The Provident Institution for Savings was incorporated on December 13th 1816. It was the first mutual savings bank to be incorporated in the United States (the Philadelphia Savings Fund Association opened about the same time). A mutual savings bank is owned by its depositors. Each depositor has a proprietary interest in the retained undivided profits of the institution. In England, a few mutual savings banks existed before 1816, and the goal of these entities was to improve the community.
The Provident Institution for Savings was organized by wealthy Boston philanthropists at the request of John Cheverus, the Catholic Bishop of Boston. The bank was created to encourage industry and prudence in the poorer classes, and to give them the means to save part of their earnings for a later period of life when they will be less likely to earn support (retirement did not exist for the working classes at that time).
In 1986 the Hartford National Corp. bought the Provident Institution for Savings in Boston for $87.2 million. “The Provident became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hartford National. However, The Provident, which is the fourth-largest savings bank in Massachusetts, will continue to operate under the name it has been using since 1816.” The bank kept its original name through 1992. In 1993, the Provident was merged into Shawmut Bank.
According to celebrateboston.com; en.Wikipedia. Source of photo: internet
