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                                                                    Exhibit 31.1

                 CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-15 OR 15D-15
                     OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934,
      AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, David E. Zuern, certify that:

(1)    I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Waypoint Financial
       Corp.;

(2)    Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
       statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
       necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
       circumstances under which such statements were made, not
       misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

(3)    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
       financial information included in this report, fairly present in
       all material respects the financial condition, results of
       operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the
       periods presented in this report;

(4)    The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible
       for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
       procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and
       15d-15(e)) for the registrant and we have:

       (a)    designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
              disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
              supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
              registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
              to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
              period in which this report is being prepared;

       (b)    evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
              controls and procedures and presented in this report our
              conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
              procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report
              based on such evaluation; and

       (c)    disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
              control over financial reporting that occurred during the
              registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth
              fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has
              materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect,
              the registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

(5)    The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
       our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,
       to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's
       board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

       (a)    all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
              or operation of internal control over financial reporting which
              are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability
              to record, process, summarize and report financial information;
              and

       (b)    any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
              other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
              internal control over financial reporting.

/s/ David E. Zuern
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David E. Zuern,
President and Chief Executive Officer

November 14, 2003



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