In 1882, John Marshall, a Portuguese ex-sailor who was a janitor at the Friends Gospel Mission on Light Street in Baltimore, had an idea. In those years, banks were located in the business center of the city and only open three hours a day, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., which made it hard for a working person to get there. So, John began collecting small sums of money for visitors and friends away at sea.

The Friends Gospel Mission, where it all began.

Elisha H. Perkins, Provident's long-tenured second president and later, board chairman, influenced the character of the Bank for its first five decades.

This informal savings system continued for about two years until John asked two volunteer managers of the Mission, John R. Cary and James Carey Jr. (later on, Provident’s Treasurer, and son of Provident’s first president, James Carey, respectively) for some help. Beginning in 1884, one or the other was present in the Mission’s reading room on Saturday evenings to collect money that they deposited in another establishment on Monday morning. That first evening, they collected $11.55 in change.

Cary, a type foundry owner, and Carey, a lawyer, called upon other businessmen across the city and suggested turning this elementary system into a workable savings system. Without recognizing it, they formed the basis of the first branch savings bank system in the country. And thus, from these humble beginnings, the Provident Savings Bank of Baltimore received a charter from the Maryland Legislature and opened for business in March 1886.