The 173-year-old bank, based in Jersey City, is hoping to target consumers who will use the mobile banking application it expects to launch early next year.

CEO Chris Martin said the rebranding has been in the works for about a year.

"We have been without a tagline for some time, and we feel this is a way to reinforce to our customers, both current and future, that there is a commodity-type approach to banking and there is a relationship approach — and we are the latter," he said.

Martin said the bank is well known to the state's business community, and the branding initiative will get the message out to consumers. He said consumers are looking for different outlets and channels — by the end of the first quarter, Provident will launch a banking app for smartphones and tablets.

"The world is changing, but there is still a large percentage of our market that really still wants to have a personal relationship. So you have to be everything," Martin said. "And you do all of it, but with the same kind of commitment going forward."

Provident has assets of $7 billion, and Martin said it's been the bigger banks that have led the way so far in mobile banking. "For our size company to be on the forefront of (mobile banking) comes with a lot of risk and a lot of costs, but now that it's out there, we are really able to customize it to appeal to our customer base, and you can really define how it's going to be used — as opposed to just trying to be the first on the block to have it."

Martin said he wants the bank's brand identify to "reinforce that during the (financial) crisis we were ready, willing and stable. We didn't take TARP money and we have continued to pay our dividend to our shareholders and we never had a blip in our performance. Customers see that stability and think, 'Hey, I can count on them; they are not going to disappoint me.' "

Michael Cherenson, executive vice president of Success Communications Group, in Parsippany, said trust is the core value Provident is communicating through its campaign.

"We did some research a few years ago and found that trust is the most important consideration, even more important than price and quality, when people consider who to do business with or invest with," he said.

That suggests Provident is comfortable setting a high bar, he added. "It's a powerful statement to make, and the challenge is making sure they meet or exceed the public's expectations."

The bank is working with its advertising agency, the Marcus Group, of Little Falls, on the rebranding campaign.