<PAGE>

                                                                   Exhibit 31.2

                                 CERTIFICATION

I, Richard P. Orsillo, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Northway Financial, 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 officer 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 registrant, 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 registrant'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 change in the registrant's internal
     control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's
     most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the
     case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably
     likely to materially affect, the registrant'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 registrant'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 registrant's internal control
     over financial reporting.

Date: March 23, 2005

                                              /s/ RICHARD P. ORSILLO
                                              --------------------------------
                                              Richard P. Orsillo
                                              Senior Vice President
                                              and Chief Financial Officer