EXHIBIT 99

               PRESS RELEASE OF PROVIDENT FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.





Contact Info: Kevin J. Ward, EVP and Chief Operating Officer
              201-333-1000

                       PROVIDENT FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.
          ANNOUNCES ANNUAL MEETING RESULTS AND PLANS TO PURCHASE STOCK


JERSEY CITY, New Jersey --- July 30, 2003

         Provident  Financial  Services,   Inc.  (NYSE:  PFS)  (the  "Company"),
announced the results of its first annual meeting of  stockholders  held on July
17, 2003. At that  meeting,  stockholders  elected J. Martin Comey,  Geoffrey M.
Connor,  Edward O'Donnell and Thomas E. Sheenan to the Board of Directors of the
Company,  each for a three-year term.  Stockholders  also approved the Company's
2003 Stock Option Plan and 2003 Stock Award Plan and ratified the appointment of
KPMG LLP as its independent auditor.

         The  Company  announced  today  that in  order  to fund  the  Provident
Financial Services, Inc. 2003 Stock Award Plan, it intends to purchase shares of
its common stock in the open market with funds contributed by the Company.

         Stock  purchases will be made from time to time at the direction of the
management  of the  Company and will amount to up to  2,384,732  shares,  or 3.9
percent, of the Company's issued and outstanding common stock.

         Provident  Financial  Services,  Inc.,  is the holding  company for The
Provident Bank, which operates 50 branches  throughout  northern and central New
Jersey.

         Certain statements  contained herein are  "forward-looking  statements"
within the meaning of Section 27A of the  Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such  forward-looking  statements may be
identified  by  reference  to a  future  period  or  periods,  or by the  use of
forward-looking  terminology,   such  as  "may,"  "will,"  "believe,"  "expect,"
"estimate,"  "anticipate,"  "continue,"  or similar terms or variations on those
terms, or the negative of those terms. Forward-looking statements are subject to
numerous risks and uncertainties,  including,  but not limited to, those related
to the  economic  environment,  particularly  in the  market  areas in which the
Company operates, competitive products and pricing, fiscal and monetary policies
of the U.S. Government,  changes in government  regulations  affecting financial
institutions,  including  regulatory fees and capital  requirements,  changes in
prevailing  interest  rates,   acquisitions  and  the  integration  of  acquired
businesses,  credit risk management,  asset-liability  management, the financial
and securities markets and the availability of and costs associated with sources
of liquidity.

         The Company  wishes to caution  readers not to place undue  reliance on
any such forward-looking  statements,  which speak only as of the date made. The
Company  wishes to advise readers that the factors listed above could affect the
Company's financial performance and could cause the Company's actual results for
future periods to differ  materially  from any opinions or statements  expressed
with respect to future periods in any current  statements.  The Company does not
undertake  and  specifically  declines any  obligation  to publicly  release the
result of any revisions which may be made to any  forward-looking  statements to
reflect events or circumstances  after the date of such statements or to reflect
the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

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