Joe Wheeler to Lead Customer Experience Efforts at Fleet.

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 16, 2003

FleetBoston Financial Corporation announced today the appointment of Joe Wheeler as Managing Director, Customer Experience within Fleet's Personal Financial Services business.

In this role, Wheeler is responsible

Wheeler most recently served with The Forum Corporation as Executive Vice President and Managing Director for the eastern United States region. In this capacity, he was responsible for the overall sales, marketing and project management of training and consulting services offered by the Forum Corporation. Wheeler joined the Forum Corporation in 1986 and held several positions of increasing responsibility in which he was focused extensively on customer service and the customer experience.

"Joe Wheeler is a recognized expert in the field of customer service. He has an outstanding background in sales, marketing and building customer loyalty. He will put his expertise to work at Fleet to help us deliver on our brand promise by accelerating our efforts to build positive and consistent customer experiences across all of our channels and with all of our products," said Warner.

Wheeler is the co-author of the book, Managing the Customer Experience -- Turning Customers Into Advocates, and has published numerous articles and delivered speeches on improving the customer experience and managing change. He holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Wheeler co-chairs the fundraising committee of The Treehouse Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving foster and adoptive care in Massachusetts.

FleetBoston Financial is the seventh-largest financial holding company in the United States, with assets of $197 billion. The company's principal businesses, Personal Financial Services and Commercial Financial Services, offer a comprehensive array of innovative financial solutions to 20 million customers. Through its Personal Financial Services franchise, Fleet offers retail banking, wealth management and investment services, nationwide brokerage, credit card and consumer lending services. These services are available through approximately 1,500 branches and more than 3,400 ATMs in the Northeast; through Fleet HomeLink(SM) online banking, one of the nation's leading online banking platforms; and through telephone banking. Fleet is the leading small business services and commercial banking provider in the Northeast. Fleet's Commercial Financial Services Division provides commercial lending, syndications, capital raising and advisory, leasing, cash management, asset-based finance, foreign exchange and interest rate derivatives to clients. FleetBoston Financial is headquartered in Boston and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: FBF) and the Boston Stock Exchange (BSE: FBF).