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                                                                    Exhibit 99.3

                 CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-14 OR 15D-14
                     OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934,
      AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Charles C. Pearson, Jr., certify that:

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

          (2)  Based on my knowledge, this quarterly 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 quarterly
               report;

          (3)  Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
               financial information included in this quarterly 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 quarterly 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-14 and 15d-14)
               for the registrant and we have:

            (a)  designed such disclosure controls and procedures 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
                 quarterly report is being prepared;

            (b)  evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                 controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to
                 the filing date of this quarterly report (the "Evaluation
                 Date"); and

            (c)  presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the
                 effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based
                 on our evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;

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

            (a)  all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of
                 internal controls which could adversely affect the registrant's
                 ability to record, process, summarize and report financial data
                 and have identified for the registrant's auditors any material
                 weaknesses in internal controls; and

            (b)  any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
                 other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
                 internal controls; and

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            (6)  The registrant's other certifying officer and I have indicated
                 in this quarterly report whether or not there were significant
                 changes in internal controls or in other factors that could
                 significantly affect internal controls subsequent to the date
                 of our most recent evaluation, including any corrective actions
                 with regard to significant deficiencies and material
                 weaknesses.

/s/ Charles C. Pearson, Jr.
---------------------------
Charles C. Pearson, Jr.,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

November 13, 2002

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