Provident Loan Society
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The Provident Loan Society's headquarters at 25th Street and Park Avenue South
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| Nonprofit organization | |
| Industry | Lending |
| Founded | 1894 in New York City, New York, United States |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York, United States |
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Key people
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Founders included Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, Jacob H. Schiff |
| Products | Loans |
| Website | providentloan |
The Provident Loan Society of NY is an American not-for-profit organization headquartered in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.
It was created in the 19th century by a group of influential New Yorkers as an alternative to loan sharks of the day. Founders include Robert W. De Forest, James Speyer, Otto T Bannard, J.P. Morgan, Jacob H. Schiff, August Belmont, Jr. and Cornelius Vanderbilt II.
Today, Provident Loan Society of NY provides short-term cash loans to individuals secured by gold and diamond jewelry, fine watches and silverware and is America's last remaining not-for-profit loan society created during the economic crisis of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Provident Loan Society of NY was created during the financial panic of 1893. In an uncertain economic environment amid foreclosures and bank failures, people sought cash from unregulated loan sharks and pawnbrokers. As a result, a group of powerful New York bankers and financiers pooled money together, pledging $35,000 each to establish a not-for-profit organization to provide short-term loans at a lower rate than the loan sharks. The organization was modeled on European financial institutions known as mont de piété or mount of piety. The contributors included Solomon Loeb, Alfred B. Mason, J.P. Morgan, Gustav H. Schwab, Jacob H. Schiff, James Speyer, Seth Low and Cornelius Vanderbilt II, among others.
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