2008-05-06 01:15:01 -

- At its regularly scheduled meeting held on April 29, 2008, the Board of Directors of First Merchants Corporation (Nasdaq: FRME) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.23 per share on its common stock.

The cash dividend is payable June 20, 2008, to stockholders of record June 6, 2008. For purposes of broker trading, the ex-date of the cash

dividend is June 4, 2008.

About First Merchants Corporation

First Merchants Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Muncie, Indiana. Subsidiaries of the Corporation include First Merchants Bank, N.A., First Merchants Bank of Central Indiana, N.A., Lafayette Bank & Trust Company, N.A., Commerce National Bank and First Merchants Trust Company, N.A. The Corporation also operates First Merchants Insurance Services, a full-service property casualty, personal lines, and healthcare insurance agency and is a majority member of Indiana Title Insurance Company, LLC, a title insurance agency.

First Merchants Corporation's common stock is traded over-the-counter on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol FRME. Quotations are carried in daily newspapers and can be found on the company's Internet web page (www.firstmerchants.com).

First Merchants Corporation
Mark K. Hardwick, 765-751-1857
Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer
www.firstmerchants.com