Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (PEBK): Marketing Mix Analysis [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking to cut through the noise and see exactly how Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. is positioning itself in late 2025, right? Honestly, for a community bank, their 4 Ps tell a clear story: they are doubling down on local relationships while their balance sheet shows real strength, evidenced by a Q3 2025 Net Interest Margin (NIM) hitting 3.58%. We've mapped out their product mix-heavy on commercial real estate loans-their tight 15-branch footprint in the Carolinas, and how their 'hometown' promotion drives business. Stick with me; this breakdown shows precisely where their near-term opportunities and risks lie in their localized strategy.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (PEBK) - Marketing Mix: Product

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. provides full-service commercial and consumer banking solutions through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Peoples Bank.

The bank maintains a diversified loan portfolio, with total loan balances reaching $1.18 billion as of September 30, 2025.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. offers non-bank services via its wholly-owned subsidiaries.

• Peoples Investment Services, Inc.
• Real Estate Advisory Services, Inc.
• Community Bank Real Estate Solutions, LLC.

Appraisal management fee income, a service supported by these subsidiaries, increased year-over-year by +$0.53 million for the three months ended September 30, 2025.

Core deposit products form the foundation of the funding structure. Total deposits stood at $1.55 billion at September 30, 2025. Core deposits, a non-GAAP measure, were $1.39 billion, representing 89.65% of total deposits.

The growth in customer deposits, which excludes brokered deposits, was $19.5 million, driven by specific product types.

• Higher money market deposit accounts
• Interest-bearing demand accounts

Peoples Bank provides digital banking access via Internet banking and a mobile app.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (PEBK) - Marketing Mix: Place

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. focuses its distribution strategy on a dense, localized physical presence within North Carolina, supplemented by modern alternative delivery channels.

The core physical network is built around a 15 banking offices entirely in North Carolina. This physical footprint is intentionally concentrated, reinforcing the community bank identity that Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. emphasizes. The headquarters remains in Newton, NC, at 518 West C Street, Newton, NC 28658.

The geographic concentration anchors the distribution strategy across key North Carolina areas.

To expand market reach without the overhead of full branches, Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. utilizes loan production offices. These LPOs currently expand the distribution of lending services into Rowan and Forsyth Counties.

The distribution strategy is supported by alternative delivery channels, ensuring customer access outside of standard branch hours.

• Access via ATMs across the network.
• Digital platforms for online and mobile banking use.
• Customer service contact via phone at (828) 464-5620.

The physical network serves specific North Carolina communities where Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. operates its banking offices.

• Counties with full banking offices include Catawba.
• Counties with full banking offices include Lincoln.
• Counties with full banking offices include Iredell.
• Counties with full banking offices include Mecklenburg.
• Additional office locations confirmed in Alexander and Wake Counties.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (PEBK) - Marketing Mix: Promotion

You're looking at how Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. communicates its value proposition to the market. The promotion strategy centers on reinforcing its identity as a deeply rooted, local financial partner.

Positioning as a 'hometown, community bank' focused on exceptional service.

The core message Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. pushes is its commitment to local relationships over scale. This is supported by its physical footprint, which is entirely within North Carolina. The bank operates 16 banking offices across Catawba, Alexander, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Iredell, and Wake Counties, plus loan production offices in Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, and Forsyth Counties. This physical presence is a key promotional asset conveying accessibility and local knowledge.

Community engagement through financial literacy programs for local students.

A significant part of the promotional effort involves tangible community investment, particularly around financial education. Peoples Bank has a long-standing partnership with the Ladies in Action program, supporting its Leadership Academy. This initiative has provided financial workshops to empower minority youth. The bank's involvement has helped the program serve nearly 200 students over its history, with education covering core concepts like credit and loans to prepare them for college expenses.

Here are some key metrics related to this community focus:

Technology promotions emphasize business process automation and digital service expansion.

While emphasizing local service, Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. promotes its modernization efforts. Recent internal leadership promotions signal a focus on technology advancement. Specifically, leadership is tasked with driving business process automation, improving operational efficiency, and advancing data governance, which includes the strategic integration of artificial intelligence. This messaging assures customers that the local bank is also investing in dependable and innovative digital solutions.

Investor communication highlights stability, like the Q4 2025 cash dividend of $0.20 per share.

For the investment community, promotion centers on consistent financial performance and shareholder returns. The bank declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share for the fourth quarter of 2025, payable on December 15, 2025. This dividend action implies an annualized yield of about 2.4%. Furthermore, the bank reported quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.67 for the quarter ending October 20th, 2025, alongside a net margin of 15.11% and a return on equity of 12.17%. This data is used to convey financial stability.

Marketing is defintely focused on local market expertise and relationships.

The overarching promotional theme ties all these elements together. Marketing materials consistently position Peoples Bank as the local expert, contrasting with large, impersonal institutions. This is reinforced through the accessibility of local management and the direct relationship-building inherent in their community programs. The bank offers various tools to support this, such as:

• Financial Wellness Learning Center access.
• Free credit report and score checks.
• Cash management services for businesses.
• Calculators for mortgages and debt payoff.

The message is clear: you get the personalized attention of a community bank with the tools of a modern financial institution.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (PEBK) - Marketing Mix: Price

You're looking at how Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. prices its core offerings to attract and retain local customers in late 2025. Pricing in banking is fundamentally about the spread between what you earn on assets-loans-and what you pay on liabilities-deposits-all while staying competitive in the local market.

The core profitability metric, Net Interest Margin (NIM), shows pricing power is improving. For the three months ended September 30, 2025, the Net Interest Margin (NIM) expanded to 3.58% (TE), which is a solid jump from the 3.35% reported for the same period last year. This expansion is defintely a positive sign for the pricing strategy.

The engine driving this margin is clear. Loan interest and fees are the primary driver of net interest income, which hit $15.1 million in Q3 2025. This compares favorably to the $13.5 million recorded in Q3 2024, showing that the yield on the loan book is outpacing the cost of funds. The increase in interest income on loans was about $1.1 million quarter-over-quarter.

Here's a quick look at the key revenue-related pricing metrics from Q3 2025:

On the liability side, Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc.'s deposit pricing benefits from lower rates paid on interest-bearing liabilities following Fed rate decreases. Management explicitly cited this as a tailwind. As of September 30, 2025, the Federal Open Market Committee target range was lowered to 4.00% to 4.25%, which directly helps reduce the cost of funds for the bank.

To attract and retain local customers, Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. uses specific, market-relevant rates for its products. You can see this in the published offers:

• The 11-Month Certificate of Deposit (CD) Annual Percentage Yield (APY) as of November 3, 2025, was posted at 3.04%.
• For secured credit, the current Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) using the prime rate plus the 0.75% margin was 7.75% as of October 30, 2025.
• The HELOC floor rate is set at 3.25%, and the APR will never exceed 16.00%.

Furthermore, non-interest income, which is crucial for diversifying revenue away from pure lending margins, is also seeing a boost from service pricing. Specifically, fee income is supported by appraisal management services, which saw a $0.53 million Year-over-Year increase in Q3 2025, driven by higher appraisal volume.