EXHIBIT 99





                                  NEWS RELEASE

TF FINANCIAL CORPORATION
3 Penns Trail
Newtown, Pennsylvania 18940

For verification, contact:          John R. Stranford, President and CEO
                                    Bill Niemczura, Senior Vice President
                                      and Chief Financial Officer

Phone:      (215) 579-4000
Fax:        (215) 579-4748
For immediate release July 8, 1996


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      Newtown, Pennsylvania,  July 8, 1996 - - TF Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:
THRD),  the holding company for Third Federal Savings Bank,  today announced the
completion of the  repurchase of 226,000  shares of the Company's  common stock.
This repurchase represents approximately five per-cent of the outstanding shares
prior to the  commencement of the repurchase  program of the company and reduces
the total outstanding shares to 4,297,386.

      John R. Stranford,  President of TF Financial  Corporation,  said that the
repurchased shares will be retained as treasury stock.

      Third Federal Savings Bank is headquartered  in Newtown,  Pennsylvania and
operates  through its main  office and ten branch  office  locations  throughout
Northeast  Philadelphia and Lower Bucks County. Third Federal recently announced
that it had entered  into a definitive  agreement  with Cenlar  Federal  Savings
Bank, Trenton,  New Jersey, to acquire three branch offices of Cenlar located in
Ewing, Hamilton Square and Princeton, New Jersey with approximately $143 Million
in deposits. The Company's Stock is traded under the symbol "THRD" on the NASDAQ
Stock Market.