Clearwater, Florida, - October 18, 2006: Nicholas Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq, NICK) today announced the opening of a new branch office location in Savannah, Georgia. The new location continues the Company's planned expansion of its branch office network, which now includes forty-five (45) branch offices in offices in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Maryland.

The new Savannah office is a full-service lending and collection facility. Nicholas employees have been working to develop business in the Savannah area for several months prior to the opening of the new location. The company intends to continue opening additional branch offices throughout the year.

Founded in 1985, with assets of $156,322,000 as of June 30, 2006, Nicholas Financial, Inc. is one of the largest publicly traded specialty consumer finance companies based in the Southeast. The Company presently operates out of 45 branch locations in both the Southeast and the Mid-West States. The Company has approximately 10,000,000 shares of common stock outstanding. For an index of Nicholas Financial Inc.’s news releases or to obtain a specific release, visit our web site at www.nicholasfinancial.com

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