Wilshire Bancorp Declares Cash Dividend

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 2, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wilshire Bancorp, Inc.
(Nasdaq:WIBC), the holding company for Wilshire State Bank, announced today that
its Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.05 per common share.
The dividend will be payable on October 15, 2008, to shareholders of record at
the close of business on September 30, 2008.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Wilshire State Bank operates 21 branch offices in
California, Texas, New Jersey and New York, and seven loan production offices in
Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Annandale, VA, and Palisades Park, NJ
and is an SBA preferred lender nationwide. Wilshire State Bank is a community
bank with a focus on commercial real estate lending and general commercial
banking, with its primary market encompassing the multi-ethnic populations of
the Los Angeles Metropolitan area. Wilshire Bancorp's strategic goals include
increasing shareholder and franchise value by continuing to grow its
multi-ethnic banking business and expanding its geographic reach to other
similar markets with strong levels of small business activity.

Statements concerning future performance, events, or any other guidance on
future periods constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to a
number of risks and uncertainties that might cause actual results to differ
materially from stated expectations. Specific factors include, but are not
limited to, loan production and sales, credit quality, the ability to expand net
interest margin, the ability to continue to attract low-cost deposits, success
of expansion efforts, competition in the marketplace and general economic
conditions. The financial information contained in this release should be read
in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included in
Wilshire Bancorp's most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, as filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, as they may be amended from time to
time. Results of operations for the most recent quarter are not necessarily
indicative of operating results for any future periods. Any projections in this
release are based on limited information currently available to management and
are subject to change. Since management will only provide guidance at certain
points during the year, Wilshire Bancorp will not necessarily update the
information. Such information speaks only as of the date of this release.
Additional information on these and other factors that could affect financial
results are included in filings by Wilshire Bancorp with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.

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CONTACT: Wilshire Bancorp, Inc.
Joanne Kim, President & CEO
(213) 639-1843
Alex Ko, SVP & CFO
(213) 427-6560
www.wilshirebank.com