|
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 a support (retirement did not exist for the
working classes at that time).
The following is quoted from the bank's first annual report of 1817, which
conveys the institution's original mission: "The Members
of [the] Corporation, who were animated at its
first establishment, to direct their exertions to benefit the middle and
poorer classes of Citizens, both in their morals and their property, must be
gratified with a detailed statement of such facts
[significant deposits in 1817, with low expenses], as have occurred in its
operations, as it is presumed this may satisfy them that those commendable
designs have been crowned with success."
The Provident Institution for Savings operated until
the early 1980s. The bank converted from a mutually owned entity to a
publicly owned savings bank, and was quickly bought by a larger bank.
Provident Savings Bank Ad (1975)
Return to Boston Firsts Page
|
