Exhibit 2.2


                            AMENDMENT NUMBER 1 TO THE

                          AGREEMENT AND PLAN OF MERGER

         This AMENDMENT  NUMBER 1 to the AGREEMENT AND PLAN OF MERGER,  dated as
of December 21, 1999 (this "Amendment"),  is entered into by and between Webster
Financial  Corporation,  a Delaware corporation  ("Webster") and MECH Financial,
Inc., a Connecticut  corporation  ("MECH").  Unless  otherwise  defined  herein,
capitalized terms in this Amendment are as defined in the Agreement.

         WHEREAS, Webster and MECH entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger,
dated as of December 1, 1999 (the  "Agreement")  pursuant to which,  among other
things, MECH will merge with and into Webster; and

         WHEREAS,  the Boards of Directors  of Webster and MECH have  determined
that it is advisable and in the best interests of their respective companies and
shareholders  to amend the Agreement to provide that the Merger  contemplated by
the Agreement may be accounted for as a purchase transaction;

         NOW,   THEREFORE,   in   consideration   of   the   mutual   covenants,
representations,   warranties  and  agreements   contained  herein  and  in  the
Agreement,  and intending to be legally bound hereby, the parties agree to amend
Agreement as follows:

         FIRST

MECH  hereby  represents  and  warrants  to Webster,  which  representation  and
warranty is being relied upon by Webster as a material  inducement to enter into
and perform this Amendment,  that MECH has received an oral opinion from KBW, to
be confirmed in writing, to the effect that, in KBW's opinion, the consideration
to be paid by Webster to  stockholders  of MECH  pursuant to the  Agreement,  as
amended  hereby,  is fair to such  holders of MECH Common Stock from a financial
point  of  view  ("Updated  Fairness  Opinion")  and KBW  has  consented  to the
inclusion of the written Updated Fairness Opinion in the Registration Statement.

         SECOND

Section 1.10 of the Agreement is hereby  revised and replaced in its entirety by
the following language:

                  1.10     ACCOUNTING TREATMENT.

                           It is intended  that the Merger be accounted for as a
                  "purchase"  transaction  under generally  accepted  accounting
                  principles ("GAAP"), unless otherwise determined by Webster.

         THIRD

Section 4.11 of the Agreement is hereby  revised and replaced in its entirety by
the following language:

                  4.11     TAX AND ACCOUNTING TREATMENT OF MERGER.

                           As of the  date of  this  Agreement,  Webster  is not
aware of any fact or state of  affairs  that  could  cause the  Merger not to be
treated as a "reorganization" under Section 368(a) of the Code.





         FOURTH

Section 5.1(k) of the Agreement is hereby revised by replacing the last sentence
thereof with the following language:

                  Bonus, commission and other incentive payments may continue to
be made in the ordinary  course in accordance  with past practices to the extent
such payments would not jeopardize the pooling-of-interests accounting treatment
for  the   Merger,   whether   or  not  the  Merger  is   accounted   for  as  a
pooling-of-interests.

         FIFTH

Section 5.5 of the  Agreement is hereby  revised and replaced in its entirety by
the following language:

                  5.5      QUALIFIED PLANS.

                           MECH  and its  Subsidiary  may not  terminate  any of
                  their  respective  plans that are  intended to be  "qualified"
                  under Code  section 401,  except that MECH and its  Subsidiary
                  may terminate  their employee stock  ownership plan (the "MECH
                  ESOP") and the  Mechanics  Savings  Bank  Pension  Plan to the
                  extent  that  such   termination   would  not  jeopardize  the
                  "qualified"  status of  either  such  plan.  As to any of such
                  plans that are not terminated,  pro-rata proportional accruals
                  may be made to the account of each participant in such plan at
                  the Effective  Time, in accordance  with the provisions of the
                  plan and in  accordance  with  past  practice  and in the same
                  proportion  as the  percentage of a year that has passed as of
                  the Effective Time bears to the full year. For example, if the
                  Effective  Time is July 1,  2000,  183 days will have  passed,
                  including  the day of the  Effective  Time as a day  that  has
                  passed,  representing  50%  of the  days  in  the  year  2000.
                  Accordingly, an accrual of 50% of the aggregate annual accrual
                  for the  applicable  plan may be made at the  Effective  Time.
                  Nevertheless, no such accruals shall be made to the extent any
                  such  accrual  would   jeopardize   the   pooling-of-interests
                  accounting treatment of the Merger, (whether or not the Merger
                  is accounted for as a pooling of interests),  or the qualified
                  status of the applicable plan.


         SIXTH

         Section  6.6(b) of the  Agreement  is  hereby  amended  by  adding  the
         following new sentence at the end thereof:

                  Notwithstanding  the  foregoing,  if MECH  and its  Subsidiary
                  terminate the MECH ESOP before the Effective Time, Webster and
                  Webster Bank shall not be required to allow the MECH Employees
                  to participate in any employee stock ownership plan maintained
                  by Webster or Webster Bank until January 1, 2002.

         SEVENTH

         Section 7.1(g) of the Agreement is hereby deleted in its entirety.

         EIGHTH

         The  definition  of "Index  Group" at Section 8.1 of the  Agreement  is
         hereby revised and replaced in its entirety by the following language:

                  "Index  Group"  means the bank and  savings  and loan  holding
                  companies  set forth at Annex A hereto,  the common  stocks of
                  all of which  shall be  publicly  traded and as to which there
                  shall not have been,  since the  Starting  Date and before the
                  Determination



                  Date,  an  announcement  of a proposal  for such company to be
                  acquired  or for such  company to acquire  another  company or
                  companies in  transactions  with a value  exceeding 25% of the
                  acquiror's  market  capitalization as of the Starting Date. In
                  the event that the common stock of any such company  ceases to
                  be  publicly  traded  or any such  announcement  is made  with
                  respect to any such  company,  such  company  shall be removed
                  from  the  Index  Group,  and the  weights  (which  have  been
                  determined based on the number of outstanding shares of common
                  stock)   redistributed   proportionately   for   purposes   of
                  determining the Index Price.



         IN WITNESS WHEREOF,  Webster and MECH have caused this Amendment Number
1 to the  Agreement to be executed and  delivered by their  respective  officers
thereunto duly authorized as of the date first above written.

WEBSTER FINANCIAL CORPORATION

ATTEST:

By:   /s/ Harriet Munrett Wolfe                 By:  /s/ James C. Smith
     --------------------------------------         ----------------------------
     Name: Harriet Munrett Wolfe                    Name:  James C. Smith
     Title:   Senior Vice President,                Title: Chairman and Chief
              General Counsel and Secretary                Executive Officer





MECH FINANCIAL, INC.

ATTEST:

By:  /s/ Thomas M. Wood                   By: /s/ Edgar C. Gerwig
     ----------------------------------       ----------------------------
     Name:   Thomas M. Wood                   Name:   Edgar C. Gerwig
     Title:    Executive Vice President       Title:  Chairman, President and
                                                      Chief Executive Officer









                                     ANNEX A



Company                                                          Symbol                                  Weighing (%)
- -------                                                          ------                                  ------------
                                                                                                      
Peoples Heritage Financial Group, Inc.                            PHBK                                      11.67%
Astoria Financial Corporation                                     ASFC                                      11.60%
Valley National Bancorp                                           VLY                                       10.48%
Roslyn Bancorp, Inc.                                              RSLN                                       9.58%
People's Bank (MHC)                                               PBCT                                       9.23%
Fulton Financial Corporation                                      FULT                                       9.16%
Commerce Bancorp, Inc.                                            CBH                                        8.53%
Chittenden Corporation                                            CHZ                                        6.33%
Independence Community Bancorp                                    ICBC                                       5.70%
Staten Island Bancorp, Inc.                                       SIB                                        5.17%
Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc.                                      SUSQ                                       4.33%
Queens County Bancorp, Inc.                                       QCSB                                       4.22%
Richmond County Financial Corp.                                   RCBK                                       4.01%
                                                                                                             -----

                                                                                                            100.0%