Exhibit 99.1

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MEDALLION FINANCIAL CORP. REPORTS

2012 FIRST QUARTER RESULTS

NEW YORK, NY – May 2, 2012 - Medallion Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: TAXI), a specialty finance company with a leading position servicing the taxicab industry and other niche markets, announced that earnings, or net increase in net assets resulting from operations was $5,466,000 or $0.30 per diluted common share in the 2012 first quarter, up $1,186,000 or 28% from $4,280,000 or $0.24 per diluted common share in the 2011 first quarter. Medallion Bank, the Company’s unconsolidated wholly-owned portfolio company, had net income of $4,125,000 in the 2012 first quarter, compared to $3,082,000 in the 2011 first quarter, an increase of $1,043,000 or 34%, primarily reflecting improved net interest income and reduced loan losses, partially offset by higher income taxes, compared to the prior year. As the Company continues to use Medallion Bank as a primary funding source it refers more loans to Medallion Bank for origination to take advantage of current short term borrowing rates.

Andrew Murstein, President of Medallion Financial stated, “We are extremely pleased with the quarter’s results, and our increased dividend. This marks the 6^th consecutive quarter that we have been able to increase the dividend. It is now at the highest level it has been in over 10 years. We continue to experience zero losses on New York City taxi medallion loans that we originated,” said Mr. Murstein. “The taxi industry remains resilient in this type of economic environment for several reasons such as corporate and consumer cutbacks on more expensive limousine and town car services, high taxi fleet utilization, and continuing high taxi ridership levels. In addition, the loan to value ratio on our entire medallion portfolio is approximately 40%.

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Medallion Financial Announces 2012 First Quarter Results p. 2

“In April, The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission approved a new taxi auction to sell up to 2,000 new taxi medallions within the next few years. We know there have been objections to the plan, including but not limited to understandable concerns from those who would like to see more wheelchair accessible taxis on the road in conformity with the Americans with Disability Act. We hope that a mutually acceptable plan can be worked out by all parties,” said Mr. Murstein.

Larry D. Hall, Chief Financial Officer of Medallion Financial stated, “Medallion Financial’s capital and liquidity levels remained strong, with over $107,000,000 of deposit-raising capacity at Medallion Bank, in addition to over $89,000,000 of availability in our other funding sources.”

Mr. Hall continued, “In addition, during 2012 we have continued to replace higher cost borrowings with lower cost fixed and floating rate debt, further enhancing our profitability, and we see additional opportunities to continue this. For example, our $33,000,000 of Trust Preferred securities, which currently carry a fixed rate of 7.68%, will re-price to 90 day Libor plus 2.125% in September, or 2.59% at today’s rates, which should be accretive to subsequent earnings.”

Medallion Financial’s on-balance sheet taxicab medallion loan portfolio was $291,000,000 at quarter end, down from $310,000,000 a year ago, primarily due to the funding of most new medallion loan originations at Medallion Bank, and the Company’s sale of loan participations to third party banks. Total managed medallion loans increased $10,000,000 or 2% to $674,000,000 at quarter end, up from $664,000,000 a year ago.

Medallion Financial’s on-balance sheet commercial loan portfolio was $56,000,000 at quarter end, down from $74,000,000 a year ago. The managed commercial loan portfolio was $120,000,000 at quarter end, down from $134,000,000 last year. In both cases, the declines primarily reflected portfolio repayments. Medallion Bank’s consumer loan portfolio increased 7% to $198,000,000 at quarter end from $185,000,000 a year ago. Overall, total managed assets increased 1% to $1,134,348,000 at year end, up from $1,118,255,000 a year ago. Asset quality remained very strong, with managed loans 90 days or more past due of only 1.5% at quarter end, down from 1.8% at year end, and up slightly from 1.3% a year ago.

The Company also announced an increase in the dividend of 24% to $0.21 per share for the 2012 first quarter, up from $0.17 per share in the 2011 first quarter. This brings the total dividends paid over the last four quarters to $0.78, and equates to a yield of over 7% based on the closing price of the Company’s stock on May 1, 2012. The current dividend will be paid on May 25, 2012, to shareholders of record on May 15, 2012. Since the Company’s initial public offering in 1996, the Company has paid in excess of $171,714,000 or $10.81 per share in dividends.

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Medallion Financial Corp. is a specialty finance company with a leading position in the origination and servicing of loans financing the purchase of taxicab medallions and related assets. The Company also originates and services loans in other commercial industries, and its wholly-owned portfolio company, Medallion Bank, also originates and services consumer loans. The Company and its subsidiaries have lent approximately $5 billion to its taxicab industry and other small businesses.

Please note that this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties relating to business performance, cash flow, costs, sales, net investment income, earnings, and growth. Medallion’s actual results may differ significantly from the results discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, those factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors,” in Medallion’s 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

MEDALLION FINANCIAL CORP.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

MEDALLION FINANCIAL CORP.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS