Our Story

We were built by people who believed in us. In 2005, our Board of Directors met to discuss the formation of a community bank to serve, at first, people in the Rocky Mount-Tarboro area. There was a need. Within six months, local citizens overwhelmingly responded, raising $13.6 million in capital. After receiving approval from the North Carolina Banking Commission and the FDIC, Providence Bank was chartered as a commercial bank and we opened our doors on March 14, 2006, with twelve employees, a corporate office, and one full-service branch on Sunset Avenue in Rocky Mount.

As Providence grew, so did our reach and impact into local markets. A loan production office opened in nearby Tarboro in 2007. Following a strong response from customers in Tarboro, we opened a full-service branch in the downtown area in 2009. By then, we had opened, in 2008, a second Rocky Mount branch, on Winstead Avenue, and consolidated our corporate office into that facility. We opened a full-service branch in Nashville in 2014. In 2018, we acquired Cornerstone Bank in Wilson and that became our fifth branch location. In 2020, we opened our sixth full-service branch, this time in our state capital: Raleigh.

One of our greatest assets is our employees. Our team grew along with the Bank, and they continue to excel in banking and financial knowledge and in their ability to exceed customer expectations. Our employees are responsive to our customers’ needs and requests and dedicated to providing superior customer service. Banking and lending decisions are made locally, which allows us to respond to needs quickly and efficiently. Providence Bank is built on the collective strength of everyone who works here.

We know the region we serve – the heart of the vibrant coastal and piedmont markets of North Carolina. Most of our management team, Board, and staff grew up here. Because of that, we serve our families, our friends, our neighbors—new and old, businesspeople we have known, and those we get to know . . . it’s home. Employees who aren’t from this area came because they understand what life is like here and what we, as a Bank, mean to the communities we serve. Everyone on our team joins the Bank in being committed to making a difference in the quality of life here, through volunteering and assisting those whose mission is to help others.

Our investors took a risk in opening the Bank. We have been successful and profitable, and as a result, the value of our stock has increased. To reward stockholders for their belief in us and their contribution to our success, we began paying regular quarterly cash dividends in 2012, despite the difficult economic environment at that time.  Our consistent financial performance has allowed us to increase our cash dividend each quarter since then. The Financial Management Consulting Group, an independent firm that reviews commercial banks, savings banks, and thrifts, rated us #1 in North Carolina for overall performance in 2022, and has rated us in their “Top Ten” for 13 consecutive years (the only financial institution to achieve this). Bauer Financial, the nation’s leading independent bank and credit union rating firm, gave us their Five Star rating, and we have held it for many years. Providence Bank has proven to be a safe and sound investment.