Provident Loan Society

The Provident Loan Society of New York
Company typeNonprofit organization
IndustryLending
Founded1894 (130 years ago) (1894) in New York City
HeadquartersNew York City
Key people
Founders included Robert W. DeForest, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, J. P. Morgan, Jacob H. Schiff
ProductsCollateral Loans
Websiteprovidentloan.com

The Provident Loan Society of New York is a not-for-profit organization headquartered at 346 Park Avenue South on the corner of 25th Street in the Rose Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was created in the 19th century by a group of influential New Yorkers as an alternative to the 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.[1]

Today, Provident Loan Society of New York 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.[2]

The society's former building on Houston St and Essex St was owned for a time by the artist Jasper Johns, who used it as a studio. It was then turned into a nightclub and lounge, which has since been closed.
  1. ^ Staff (December 10, 1894). "Cheap Loans a Success". The New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
  2. ^ Caskey, John P. (1996) Fringe Banking: Check-Cashing Outlets, Pawnshops, and the Poor, New York: Russell Sage Foundation. p.24. ISBN 0871541807