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                                                                      EXHIBIT 31
                                 CERTIFICATIONS

         I, Paul W. Pence, Jr., certify that:

         1.       I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Merchants
Bancorp, Inc.;

         2.       Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

         3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

         4.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I are
responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures
(as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant
and have:

         a)       Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
ensure that material information relating to the Company, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities,
particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

         b)       Evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure
controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the
period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

         c)       Disclosed in this report any changes in the Company's internal
control over financial reporting that occurred during the Company's most recent
fiscal quarter (the Company's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual
report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting; and

         5.       The registrant's other certifying officer and I have
disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
functions):

         a)       All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company's ability to record, process,
summarize and report financial information; and

         b)       Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
or other employees who have a significant role in the Company's internal control
over financial reporting.

Date MARCH 30, 2004

By /s/ Paul W. Pence, Jr.
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   Paul W. Pence, Jr., Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer

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