Westcorp Announces $1.8 Billion Securitization Transaction

    IRVINE, Calif.--March 12, 2002--Westcorp , the financial services holding company whose principal subsidiaries are WFS Financial and Western Financial Bank, today announced the pricing of a $1.8 billion offering of automobile receivable asset-backed securities, its largest transaction to date.
    The offering was lead managed by Banc of America Securities LLC and co-managed by Barclays Capital Inc., Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, and Salomon Smith Barney. This offering is expected to close on March 20, 2002.
    The securities will be issued via an owner trust, WFS Financial 2002-1, in six classes of Notes:

Security        Amount     Average Life     Price       Interest Rate
                              (yrs)

A-1 Notes    $330,000,000      0.38        100.00000        2.04%

A-2 Notes    $440,000,000      1.00         99.99370        3.04%

A-3A Notes   $380,000,000      2.00         99.99722        4.15%

A-3B Notes   $230,000,000      2.00        100.00000    3 mo. LIBOR 
                                                          + 0.13%

A-4A Notes   $260,000,000      3.24         99.99307        4.87%

A-4B Notes   $160,000,000      3.24        100.00000    3 mo. LIBOR
                                                          + 0.17%

Total      $1,800,000,000

    The Class A-1, A-2, A-3A and A-4A Notes are priced on a fixed rate basis while the Class A-3B and A-4B Notes are priced on a variable rate basis in order for the company to take full advantage of the current interest rate environment, as well as to expand its current base of investors.
    The Class A-1 Notes will be rated A-1+ by Standard & Poor's and Prime-1 by Moody's Investor Service. The Class A-2, A-3A, A-3B, A-4A and A-4B Notes will be rated AAA by Standard & Poor's and Aaa by Moody's. Timely principal and interest payments on the Notes are guaranteed by an insurance policy provided by Financial Security Assurance Inc.
    The rating by Standard & Poor's of the Class A-1 Notes will be issued without regard to the benefit afforded by the Note Policy. The ratings by Standard & Poor's of the Class A-2, A-3A, A-3B, A-4A and A-4B Notes, as well as the ratings by Moody's of all of the Notes will be based on the issuance of the Note Policy by FSA.
    WFS and its affiliates are the fourth largest issuer of automobile asset-backed securities in the United States, having issued a total of $24.4 billion of such securities in 54 transactions to date.
    Westcorp is a financial services holding company whose principal subsidiaries are WFS Financial Inc and Western Financial Bank. Westcorp is a publicly owned company whose common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WES. Information about Westcorp can be found at its Web site at http://www.westcorpinc.com.
    Westcorp, through its subsidiary, WFS, is one of the nation's largest independent automobile finance companies. WFS specializes in originating, securitizing, and servicing new and pre-owned prime and non-prime credit quality automobile contracts through its nationwide relationships with automobile dealers. Information about WFS can be found at its Web site at http://www.wfsfinancial.com.
    Westcorp, through its subsidiary, Western Financial Bank, operates 24 retail bank branches throughout California and provides commercial banking services in Southern California. Information on the products and services offered by the bank can be found at its Web site at http://www.wfb.com.