AMERISERV FINANCIAL Inc. (the "Registrant") announced fourth quarter and full year results through December 31, 2008. For a more detailed description of the announcement see the press release attached as Exhibit #99.1.

Exhibits

Exhibit 99.1

Press release dated January 20, 2009, announcing the fourth quarter and full year results through December 31, 2008.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

AMERISERV FINANCIAL, Inc.

By /s/Jeffrey A. Stopko

Jeffrey A. Stopko

Senior Vice President

& CFO

Date: January 20, 2009

Exhibit 99.1

AMERISERV FINANCIAL REPORTS INCREASED EARNINGS FOR THE FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR 0F 2008

JOHNSTOWN, PA - AmeriServ Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASRV) reported fourth quarter 2008 net income of $1,615,000 or $0.07 per diluted share. This represents an increase of $691,000 or 74.8% over the fourth quarter 2007 net income of $924,000 or $0.04 per diluted share. For the year ended December 31, 2008, the Company earned $5,509,000 or $0.25 per diluted share. This also represents an increase of $2,475,000 or 81.6% when compared to net income of $3,034,000 or $0.14 per diluted share for the full year 2007. The following table highlights the Company's financial performance for the both the quarters and years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007:

                       Fourth       Fourth          Year Ended         Year Ended
                    Quarter 2008 Quarter 2007    December 31, 2008  December 31, 2007

Net income            $1,615,000     $924,000            $5,509,000        $3,034,000
Diluted earnings          $ 0.07       $ 0.04                $ 0.25            $ 0.14
per share

Allan R. Dennison, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the 2008 financial results, "AmeriServ Financial's strong growth in earnings in 2008 resulted from our disciplined focus on maintaining a high quality conservatively positioned balance sheet during a historic period of economic turmoil and crisis within the financial markets. I was particularly pleased that we were able to have a record year in growing our loan portfolio by $71 million or 11.1% by extending credit to quality borrowers within the communities in which we operate. The current recessionary environment makes the future more difficult to forecast, but we enter 2009 with an improved net interest margin, sound asset quality, and strong capital levels which should provide us with greater financial flexibility."

The Company's net interest income in the fourth quarter of 2008 increased by $2.0 million from the prior year's fourth quarter and for the full year of 2008 increased by $4.9 million or 20.2% when compared to 2007. The Company's net interest margin when compared to the same prior year periods was up sharply by 76 basis points to 3.84% for the fourth quarter of 2008 and was up by 58 basis points to 3.64% for the full year 2008. This improved net interest margin resulted from a combination of strong loan growth and balance sheet positioning which allowed the Company to benefit from the significant Federal Reserve reductions in short-term interest rates and the return to a more traditional positively sloped yield curve. As a result of these changes, the Company's interest expense on deposits and borrowings declined at a faster rate than the interest income on loans and investment securities. Additionally, the improved earning asset mix with fewer investment securities and more loans outstanding also contributed to the increased net interest income and margin in 2008. For the full year 2008, total loans increased by $71 million or 11.1% with $43 million of this growth occurring during the fourth quarter. The 2008 loan growth was driven by increased commercial and commercial real-estate loan production particularly in the suburban Pittsburgh market. Overall, net interest income has now increased for eight consecutive quarters.

The Company recorded a $625,000 provision for loan losses in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to a $150,000 provision in the fourth quarter of 2007. For the full year 2008, the Company recorded a $2.9 million loan loss provision which represented an increase of $2.6 million over the 2007 full year loan loss provision of $300,000. When determining the provision for loan losses, the Company considers a number of factors some of which include periodic credit reviews, delinquency and charge-off trends, concentrations of credit, loan volume trends and broader local and national economic trends. The higher loan provision in 2008 was caused by the Company's decision to strengthen its allowance for loan losses due to the downgrade of the rating classification of several specific performing commercial loans and uncertainties in the local and national economies. Overall net charge-offs were up moderately in 2008 when compared to 2007. Specifically, for the full year 2008, net charge-offs amounted to $1.3 million or 0.20% of total loans compared to net charge-offs of $1.1 million or 0.19% of total loans for the full year 2007. Non-performing assets increased by $182,000 since the third quarter of 2008 but are still lower than the year-end 2007 level. Non-performing assets totaled $4.6 million or 0.65% of total loans at December 31, 2008 compared to $5.3 million or 0.83% of total loans at December 31, 2007. Overall, the allowance for loan losses provided 195% coverage of non-performing assets and was 1.26% of total loans at December 31, 2008 compared to 137% of non-performing assets and 1.14% of total loans at December 31, 2007. Note also that the Company has no direct exposure to sub-prime mortgage loans in either the loan or investment portfolios.

The Company's non-interest income in the fourth quarter of 2008 decreased by $384,000 from the prior year's fourth quarter but for the full year of 2008 increased by $1.7 million when compared to the full year 2007. The quarterly decrease was primarily due to a $288,000 decline in trust and investment advisory fees due to reductions in the market value of assets managed due to lower equity values in the fourth quarter of 2008. Other income also declined as there was a non-recurring $200,000 gain realized in the fourth quarter of 2007 on the sale of a bank owned operations facility that was no longer being fully utilized. For the full year 2008, the increase in non-interest income was primarily due to a $1.4 million increase in revenue from bank owned life insurance due to the payment of death claims in 2008. The remainder of the increase in non-interest income was driven by increases in several other non-interest revenue categories. Deposit service charges increased by $490,000 or 19.0% due to increased overdraft fees and greater service charge revenue that resulted from a realignment of the bank's checking accounts to include more fee based products. The Company also recorded an increase on gains realized on residential mortgage loan sales into the secondary market that amounted to $170,000 for the full year 2008. This increase reflects improved residential mortgage production from the Company's primary market as this has been an area of emphasis in the Company's strategic plan. Finally, the Company took advantage of the positively sloped yield curve to position the investment portfolio for better future earnings by selling some of the lower yielding securities in the portfolio and replacing them with higher yielding securities with a modestly longer duration. Overall, the Company realized a net security loss of $95,000 in 2008.

Total non-interest expense in the fourth quarter of 2008 increased by $345,000 from the prior year's fourth quarter and for the full year of 2008 increased by $965,000 or 2.8% when compared to 2007. The higher annual 2008 expenses were due to an $887,000 increase in other expenses, a $385,000 increase in professional fees, and a $91,000 charge on the prepayment of $6 million of Federal Home Loan Bank Advances. Note that the increase in other expenses was due to higher advertising and business development expenses, increased other real-estate owned expenses, and the non-recurrence of a $400,000 expense recovery related to a previous mortgage servicing operation that was realized in 2007. The increased professional fees resulted primarily from higher legal, consulting and other professional fees in 2008. The $91,000 FHLB debt prepayment charge resulted from the Company's decision to retire some higher cost advances and replace them with lower cost current market rate advances in order to reduce ongoing interest expense. While salaries and employee benefits expenses were higher in the fourth quarter of 2008, they were down by $122,000 for the full year due primarily to reduced medical insurance premiums. The $368,000 annual reduction in equipment expense resulted from the benefits achieved from the migration to a new core data processing operating system and mainframe processor.

ASRV had total assets of $967 million, total shareholders' equity of $113 million and a book value of $4.39 per share at December 31, 2008. With the receipt of $21 million of preferred stock from the U.S. Treasury's Capital Purchase Program on December 19, 2008, the Company's asset leverage ratio increased to 12.15% at December 31, 2008 compared to 9.74% as December 31, 2007.
The Company also completed its previously announced stock repurchase program during the fourth quarter of 2008 by repurchasing 743,200 shares at an average price of $2.33. For the full year 2008, the Company repurchased 1,097,700 shares of its common stock at an average price of $2.58.

As a result of the decision by the Company to accept a preferred stock investment under the U.S. Treasury's Capital Purchase Program for a period of three years the Company is no longer permitted to repurchase stock or declare and pay common dividends without the consent of the U.S. Treasury.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the risks detailed in the Company's Annual Report and Form 10-K to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially.

Nasdaq: ASRV

                    SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE DATA

                                January 20, 2009

                (In thousands, except per share and ratio data)

                    (All quarterly and 2008 data unaudited)

2008

                                        1QTR      2QTR      3QTR      4QTR      YEAR
                                                                               TO DATE
PERFORMANCE DATA FOR THE PERIOD:
Net income                               $1,229    $1,516    $1,149    $1,615    $5,509

PERFORMANCE PERCENTAGES (annualized):
Return on average assets                  0.55%     0.71%     0.52%     0.69%     0.62%
Return on average equity                   5.43      6.64      4.93      6.68      5.93
Net interest margin                        3.32      3.58      3.59      3.84      3.64
Net charge-offs as a percentage of         0.06      0.46      0.04      0.23      0.20
average loans
Loan loss provision as a percentage        0.10      0.89      0.48      0.36      0.45
of average loans
Efficiency ratio                          82.87     73.20     79.72     77.46     78.11

PER COMMON SHARE:
Net income:
Basic                                     $0.06     $0.07     $0.05     $0.07     $0.25
Average number of common shares          22,060    21,847    21,855    21,571    21,833
outstanding
Diluted                                    0.06      0.07      0.05      0.07      0.25
Average number of common shares          22,062    21,848    21,856    21,571    21,975
outstanding

2007

                                      1QTR     2QTR      3QTR      4QTR      YEAR
                                                                            TO DATE
PERFORMANCE DATA FOR THE PERIOD:
Net income                              $428      $808      $874      $924    $3,034

PERFORMANCE PERCENTAGES
(annualized):
Return on average assets               0.20%     0.37%     0.39%     0.41%     0.34%
Return on average equity                2.05      3.79      4.00      4.12      3.51
Net interest margin                     2.97      3.01      3.00      3.08      3.06
Net charge-offs as a percentage of      0.06      0.07      0.61      0.01      0.19
average loans
Loan loss provision as a percentage        -         -      0.10      0.09      0.05
of average loans
Efficiency ratio                       94.16     88.52     87.15     86.04     88.85

PER COMMON SHARE:
Net income:
Basic                                  $0.02     $0.04     $0.04     $0.04     $0.14
Average number of common shares       22,159    22,164    22,175    22,184    22,171
outstanding
Diluted                                 0.02      0.04      0.04      0.04      0.14
Average number of common shares       22,166    22,171    22,177    22,186    22,173
outstanding

                           AMERISERV FINANCIAL, INC.

         (In thousands, except per share, statistical, and ratio data)

                    (All quarterly and 2008 data unaudited)


2008

                                         1QTR       2QTR       3QTR       4QTR
PERFORMANCE DATA AT PERIOD END
Assets                                  $902,349   $877,230   $911,306   $966,929
Investment securities                    151,967    148,819    148,777    158,253
Loans                                    632,934    623,798    663,996    707,108
Allowance for loan losses                  7,309      7,963      8,677      8,910
Goodwill and core deposit intangibles     14,254     14,038     13,821     13,605
Deposits                                 682,459    722,913    688,998    694,956
FHLB borrowings                          106,579     40,214    106,897    133,778
Stockholders' equity                      91,558     92,248     93,671    113,252
Non-performing assets                      3,050      3,717      4,390      4,572
Asset leverage ratio                       9.78%     10.47%     10.37%     12.15%
PER COMMON SHARE:
Book value (A)                             $4.19      $4.22      $4.29      $4.39
Market value                                2.79       2.98       2.51       1.99
Market price to book value                66.62%     70.59%     58.57%     45.31%
Trust assets - fair market value (B)  $1,828,475 $1,813,231 $1,678,398 $1,554,351

STATISTICAL DATA AT PERIOD END:
Full-time equivalent employees               350        353        352        353
Branch locations                              19         18         18         18
Common shares outstanding             21,842,691 21,850,773 21,859,409 21,128,831




2007

                                         1QTR       2QTR       3QTR       4QTR
PERFORMANCE DATA AT PERIOD END
Assets                                  $891,559   $876,160   $897,940   $904,878
Investment securities                    185,338    174,508    170,765    163,474
Loans                                    603,834    604,639    629,564    636,155
Allowance for loan losses                  8,010      7,911      7,119      7,252
Goodwill and core deposit intangibles     15,119     14,903     14,687     14,470
Deposits                                 768,947    762,902    763,771    710,439
FHLB borrowings                           15,170      4,258     23,482     82,115
Stockholders' equity                      85,693     86,226     88,517     90,294
Non-performing assets                      2,706      2,825      2,463      5,280
Asset leverage ratio                      10.23%     10.36%     10.44%      9.74%
PER COMMON SHARE:
Book value                                 $3.87      $3.89      $3.99      $4.07
Market value                                4.79       4.40       3.33       2.77
Market price to book value               123.88%    113.12%     83.44%     68.07%
Trust assets - fair market value (B)  $1,828,475 $1,872,366 $1,846,240 $1,883,307

STATISTICAL DATA AT PERIOD END:
Full-time equivalent employees               375        376        358        351
Branch locations                              21         21         20         20
Common shares outstanding             22,161,445 22,167,235 22,180,650 22,188,997

NOTES:

(A) Preferred stock received through the Capital Purchase Program is excluded from the book value per common share calculation.

(B) Not recognized on the balance sheet.