EXHIBIT 23

The Board of Directors
First Financial Bancorp:


We consent to incorporation by reference in the registration statement dated
April 23, 1991 on Form S-8 of First Financial Bancorp of our report dated
February 21, 1997, relating to the consolidated balance sheets of First
Financial Bancorp and subsidiary as of December 31, 1996 and 1995 and the
related consolidated statements of income, stockholders' equity and cash flows
for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 1996, which
report appears in the December 31, 1996 annual report on Form 10-K of First
Financial Bancorp.


                                      /s/ KPMG Peat Marwick LLP


Sacramento, California
March 26, 1997