FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 18, 2006
For further information contact:
Mr. C. Steven Sjogren
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ben Franklin Financial, Inc.
(847) 398-0990

                          BEN FRANKLIN FINANCIAL, INC.
                     ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF REORGNAZIATION
                               AND MINORITY STOCK
                                    OFFERING

Arlington Heights,  Illinois,  October 18, 2006 - Ben Franklin  Financial,  Inc.
(the  "Company"),  the newly  formed  holding  company of Ben  Franklin  Bank of
Illinois (the "Bank"),  announced that it completed its mutual  holding  company
reorganization  and minority stock offering on Wednesday,  October 18, 2006. The
Company  sold  892,688  shares  of  common  stock  at  $10.00  per  share  in  a
subscription  offering.  Such shares represent 45% of the Company's  outstanding
shares.  The remaining  1,091,062 shares were issued to Ben Franklin  Financial,
MHC, the newly formed mutual holding  company  parent of the Company.  Shares of
the Company are expected to begin trading on Thursday,  October 19, 2006, on the
OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "BFFI.OB."

The offering was  oversubscribed  by eligible  account holders of the Bank as of
March 31, 2005. Accordingly,  the orders of eligible account holders were filled
in accordance  with the  allocation  procedures  set forth in the Bank's Plan of
Mutual Holding Company  Reorganization  and Stock Issuance.  The orders of other
subscribers, other than the Company's Employee Stock Ownership Plan, will not be
filled.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods acted as financial advisor to the Company in connection
with the offering and managed the subscription offering. Luse Gorman Pomerenk &
Schick, P.C. acted as special counsel to the Company.

Ben Franklin Bank of Illinois operates from its main office in Arlington
Heights, Illinois, and two full-service branch offices located in Cook County,
Illinois.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements,  which can  be  identified  by  the  use  of  such words  as
estimate,   project,   believe,  intend,  anticipate,  plan,  seek,  expect  and
similar   expressions,   are   considered   forward-looking  statements.   These
forward-looking  statements  include:  statements  of  our goals, intentions and
expectations;   statements  regarding  our  business  plans  and  prospects  and
growth  and  operating  strategies;  statements  regarding  the asset quality of
our  loan  and  investment  portfolios;  and  estimates  of our risks and future
costs   and   benefits.   These  forward-looking   statements   are  subject  to
significant  risks,   assumptions  and  uncertainties,  including,  among  other
things,   the  following  important  factors   that  could  affect  the   actual
outcome   of   future   events:    significantly   increased  competition  among
depository  and  other  financial  institutions;  inflation  and  changes in the
interest  rate  environment  that  reduce  our  margins or reduce the fair value
of  financial  instruments; general  economic conditions,  either nationally  or
in  our  market  areas,  that  are  worse than expected;  adverse changes in the
securities  markets;  legislative  or  regulatory  changes that adversely affect
our  business;   our  ability  to  enter  new  markets  successfully  and   take
advantage of growth  opportunities;  changes  in  consumer  spending,  borrowing
and  savings habits;  changes  in  accounting  policies and practices, as may be
adopted  by   the  bank  regulatory   agencies  and  the  Financial   Accounting
Standards  Board;  and  changes in our  organization,  compensation and  benefit
plans.  Additionally,  other  risks  and  uncertainties  are  described  in  the
Company's  registration  statement.  Because  of  these and other uncertainties,
our  actual  future  results  may  be  materially  different  from  the  results
indicated by these forward-looking statements.