Not much has changed inside Provident Bank since it first opened for business 120 years ago.
It?s still an independently owned local bank that focuses on providing a wide range of banking services to its local customer.
“We like being the largest independent bank in Maryland,” said Gary Geisel, Provident?s chairman and chief executive officer. “It plays into our right-sized strategy. If you go smaller, it?s hard to offer the products and services that we offer. If you go larger, it?s hard to deliver the intimate service that we offer.”
Provident Bankshares Corp., the parent of Provident Bank, on Thursday reported third-quarter net income of $20.4 million, up from $18.3 million for the same period a year ago. Shareholders will earn 62 cents per share, up from 54 cents last year.
Provident Bank began business as Provident Savings Bank of Baltimore in 1886. By 1997, the bank expanded its reach into Washington and the surrounding suburbs, and into northern Virginia. In 2004, Provident Bank moved into central Virginia.
“We like Baltimore, we like Maryland, and we like Virginia,” Geisel said. “Looking back 10 years ago, we were at $2 billion [in assets]. Today we?re at $6 billion. Ten years ago we had 42 locations, and now we have 153 locations. If I look 10 years down the road, we will be twice our size with a lot more branches.”
Geisel said that bankers must compete more effectively for consumer business since depositors have more choices about where to deposit their money.
“As much as we bankers would like to encourage you to put all of your eggs in one basket, that?s something you are not willing to do,” he said.
But Provident?s longevity goes beyond economics.
Gene Bracken, a spokesman for the Greater Baltimore Committee, pointed to Provident?s involvement in the regional business organization and the bank?s community contributions as evidence of its commitment to the community.
“Provident Bank has been one of a number of GBC members that have gone above and beyond the day-to-day of doing business in Baltimore to be a part of the community and add value to the community,” Bracken said. “They are part of that nucleus of businesses that can be counted on.”
