(Editor’s note: This is the second installment in a weekly series featuring Rhode Island’s oldest companies as the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The first one can be found here.)
NEWPORT – When BankNewport was founded in 1819, it started with a simple idea: Give hardworking Rhode Islanders a safe place to save their money.
At the time, that meant things like letting sailors deposit their entire paycheck from a voyage while other customers were capped at $100 – a move that kept money secure, built trust, and helped it become the state’s oldest mutual bank, said BankNewport’s CEO and President Jack Murphy.
“Even back then, more than 200 years ago, BankNewport customers knew that if they had to work on a boat in the West Indies or India or South America for however long a time, their money would be safe in the community they called home,” said Murphy.
That people-first approach has stood the test of time, he noted, making BankNewport one of the nation’s oldest community banks. As it stands today, it's the ninth oldest company in the state's history according to PBN's 2026 Book of Lists.
“It’s really important to the company because we want to serve Rhode Islanders,” Murphy said.
The bank’s origins are rooted in Newport’s post–War of 1812 recovery, when the city was still struggling to rebound from economic disruption caused by the Revolutionary War and subsequent wartime interruptions in maritime trade, said Murphy.
By the early 1800s, Newport had lost much of its pre-war commercial prominence. Just three years after the War of 1812, several prominent local figures – doctors, lawyers, landowners, and sea captains including David Melville, Stephen Bowen and Benjamin Hazard – came together to create a safe and profitable place for industrious people to save. That place was BankNewport.
Over the centuries, that founding spirit has guided the bank’s philosophy, he added.
“Over the past 200-plus years, we’ve remained fiercely independent, and as a mutual bank,” he said. “The community actually owns the bank. There’s no stock, no Wall Street pressure – just a focus on customers, colleagues, and community.”
Even amid decades of regional bank mergers, BankNewport has preserved its name and identity as a distinctly Rhode Island institution.
While many local and regional banks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut have merged or rebranded in recent years, BankNewport has maintained both its independence and its deep ties to the community.
Murphy credited the bank’s focus on community and independence with driving its steady growth through the years.
Over the centuries, BankNewport has grown steadily – from $20,000 in assets in 1820 to $2 billion in 2020, and now more than $3 billion, a remarkable size for a community bank, Murphy said.
Yet modernization hasn’t come at the expense of personal relationships, he added.
“Over the past five or six years, we’ve digitized the bank,” Murphy says. “People like to bank on their phone or online. They expect to open accounts in minutes. But we’ve been careful to maintain those personal relationships – what we call the human digital value proposition.”
Now, customers can do everything digitally, from loan applications to transfers, but a banker is always available by phone or in person.
And oftentimes, that banker is a familiar face, someone customers have trusted for decades.
Because beyond customer experience, BankNewport is also a place for people to have a career, Murphy said.
“We’ve built a team where people can grow and stay for decades – it’s rare in banking, and it makes a difference for our customers and our community.”
Murphy noted that the bank’s founding charter still resonates today.
“Our mission statement remains the same: to serve communities within our market, maintain a secure and profitable, service-oriented financial institution, and help residents and businesses meet their financial goals,” he said.
That mission still plays out well beyond the balance sheet. Today, BankNewport is more involved in the community than ever, with employees contributing more than 10,000 hours of volunteer service last year alone.
“The better BankNewport does, the better the community does,” Murphy said. “That’s been true since 1819 – and it’s still what drives everything we do.”
Matthew McNulty is a PBN staff writer. He can be reached at McNulty@PBN.com or on X at @MattMcNultyNYC.
