Exhibit 5




                   KEATING, MUETHING & KLEKAMP

                    FACSIMILE  (513) 579-6457

                        September 15, 1995




Direct Dial:  (513) 579-6411



Provident Bancorp, Inc.
One East Fourth Street
Cincinnati, Ohio  45202

Gentlemen:

     This firm is general counsel to Provident Bancorp, Inc. (the
"Company") and as such, are familiar with the Company's Articles
of Incorporation, Code of Regulations and corporate proceedings
generally.  We have reviewed the corporate records as to the
establishment of the Company's 1992 Advisory Directors' Stock
Option Plan which calls for the issuance of shares of Common
Stock to officers, employees and directors of the Company and its
subsidiaries upon exercise of options granted to them.  Based
solely upon such examination, we are of the opinion that:

     1.   The Company is a duly organized and validly existing
corporation under the laws of the State of Ohio; and

     2.   The Company has taken all necessary and required
corporate actions in connection with the proposed issuance of
25,000 shares of Common Stock pursuant to the 1992 Advisory
Directors' Stock Option Plan, and the Common Stock, when issued
and delivered, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-
assessable shares of Common Stock of the Company free of any
claim of pre-emptive rights.

     We hereby consent to be named in the Registration Statement
and the Prospectus part thereof as the attorneys who have passed
upon legal matters in connection with the issuance of the
aforesaid Common Stock and to the filing of this opinion as an
exhibit to the Registration Statement.

                                   Very truly yours,

                                   KEATING, MUETHING & KLEKAMP



                                   BY:   /s/Gary P. Kreider
                                      ________________________
                                          Gary P. Kreider