Our vision at Peoples is to be the Best Community Bank in America. We are committed to conducting our business in a way that ensures that Peoples will be around for many years to come. Our actions are guided by our core values represented by the Promise Circle, which embodies how we do business, and our never-ending pursuit of creating value for our employees (or as we also often refer to them, “our associates”), our communities, our clients and our shareholders. Being true to these core values in the decisions we make and in our business practices is essential to driving sustainable long-term growth.

The Board’s Governance and Nominating Committee provides oversight of Peoples’ practices and reporting with respect to ESG matters, and the Board’s Risk Committee is responsible for oversight of ESG-related risks. Our executive leadership team is tasked with setting strategy and driving progress in our ESG initiatives. We believe in focusing our efforts where we can have the most impact. Consequently, our ESG areas of focus are organized around our associates, our local communities, our clients, and our shareholders. By relentlessly pursuing the creation of value for all four, we will ensure the sustainability of our business for many years to come.

The PEBO Promise Circle:

Clients First

Integrity Always

Respect for All

Commitment to Community

Lead the Way

Excellence in Everything

Colleagues
We are devoted to fostering the physical and mental well-being of our workforce and are proud to have been recognized by American Banker as one of the top 90 banks to work for in the United States in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. We provide a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that supports the health and financial wellness of our people. Some common benefits offered to our associates include the following:

• Employee Assistance Program provides free counseling services
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits for associates, their spouses, and dependents
• Flexible spending and health savings accounts for both healthcare and dependent care
• Wellness program with incentives for participants who meet certain criteria
• Company-paid life insurance for associates
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance for associates
• Paid time off for full-time and part-time associates
• Paid parental leave
• 401(k) retirement savings program with company matching contributions of up to 6%
• Employee stock purchase program allowing for the purchase of Peoples’ common shares at a 15% discount
• Student loan pay down program that pays up to $200 per month towards the associate’s student loan
• Tuition assistance program for associates
• Scholarship program for children of our associates, for college, community college, or trade school
• Associate hardship and disaster relief fund to provide financial support to associates in need

We are also committed to pay equity, and we regularly review our compensation model to ensure fair and inclusive pay practices across our businesses. We continue to invest in our workforce, and highlights include establishing a company-wide minimum wage of $15 per hour, adding parental leave, and 100% pay while on maternity leave. We provide educational offerings to colleagues believed to be suited for leadership roles within Peoples. We survey our associates to gauge their satisfaction and to solicit feedback, and management thoroughly reviews the results. Management addresses issues raised by surveys in a timely manner and provides regular progress updates as the survey results are used to continually improve the workplace for associates. This year, we expanded our medical plan offerings in response to feedback received from associates. In 2024, we launched the “PEBO Closet,” where associates can donate and take used clothing items, and have since it expanded it to four locations across our footprint. We also offer a total of four annual scholarships to children of associates – two with a focus on technical or trade training and two for a two-year or four-year degree. In addition, the Peoples Professional Development Associate Program provides a unique opportunity for recent college graduates to immerse themselves in the financial industry and gain valuable real-world experience.

Our focus on the well-being of our associates and on having a first-class workplace resulted in Peoples being named by Newsweek as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Mental Wellbeing in 2024 and 2025 and as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Women in 2025. Peoples has also been acknowledged in many of the geographical areas in its footprint, being named “Top Workplace” by The Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com, its sixth such award in the last seven years. Peoples was also named a Top Workplace by the Cincinnati Enquirer and Cincinnati.com for 2025, for the third year in a row. Peoples was recognized as a Top Workplace in Greater Louisville in 2025 by the Louisville Courier-Journal for the second year in a row, and as a Top Workplace 2025 in Greater Columbus by Columbus CEO, also for the second year in a row.

Diversity & Inclusion
We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities for training, compensation, transfer, promotion, and other aspects of employment for all qualified applicants and associates without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or veteran status. A diverse and inclusive workplace begins with our core value of “Respect for All” – treating all associates and clients with respect. Our goal is to attract, retain, and develop a workforce that is diverse in background, knowledge, skill, and experience. As of December 31, 2025, women represented 71% of Peoples’ workforce.

At Peoples, we continually strive to use our knowledge, talents and resources to improve the quality of life in our communities. We are committed to making a positive and meaningful difference in the neighborhoods where we work and live. Therefore, we measure success not only in financial terms, but also in our ongoing actions such as fundraising efforts, educational sponsorship, community development, food drives, and partnerships with local colleges and universities. Our charitable giving occurs in two distinct areas – financial contributions and volunteerism – both of which are of equal importance and emphasis within our organization.

Financial Contributions
Peoples and our foundation, Peoples Bank Foundation, Inc. (the “Foundation”), collectively contributed over $2 million in 2025 in sponsorships and donations to charitable causes and organizations within the communities we serve. Contributions were made in the areas of economic development, youth and education, human services for low to moderate-income individuals, arts and culture, and environmental stewardship. Specifically, the Foundation awarded approximately $750,000 in grants and scholarships to nonprofit organizations and local students in 2025. Peoples Bank also made several donations in 2025, including $250,000 to Memorial Health Systems for a new Women and Children’s Hospital and $25,000 to Sisters Health Foundation. The Foundation also partnered with Washington State College of Ohio to open the “Peoples Bank Foundation Student Market” and made a $50,000 pledge toward the project, with $25,000 being donated in 2025 to complete the pledge. Peoples Bank’s commitment to arts & culture includes a multiyear agreement with the Peoples Bank Theatre in Marietta, Ohio, and the Mountain Arts Center in
Prestonsburg, Kentucky. Both theaters are nonprofits benefiting Appalachian communities. Since 2020, we are extremely proud that our associates have donated over $875,000 of their personal funds to local area food banks. In total, the Foundation awarded over 200 grants across eight states and Washington, D.C. in 2025. Since its inception in 2003, the Foundation has awarded over $8 million in grants and scholarships.

Volunteerism
Peoples associates are encouraged to volunteer in their communities. We provide every associate with eight hours of paid time off to use for community service each year. Peoples Bank is proud to be able to support many events and organizations across our footprint, including youth sports and education programs, as well as community development organizations. There are Peoples associates with backgrounds in residential lending involved with affordable housing nonprofit boards, and there are Peoples associates serving as treasurers on local food banks and pantries that serve multiple states. Our associates regularly volunteer their time with local United Way organizations and serve on boards of other local nonprofit institutions. In 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, we partnered with Cristo Rey High School in Columbus, Ohio, to provide internships to low-income high school students. Supporting our communities is core to our mission, and we will continue to partner with and strengthen our relationships with organizations that share our values.

Environmentally Friendly and Sustainable Business Practices
We strive to operate our business in a sustainable manner and to be good stewards of the environment. With a view to increasing efficiency and reducing waste, we are continuing to digitize manual back-office and financial center functions. We also offer digital delivery of banking services and electronic bank statements to reduce the amount of paper used in our business. In addition, we employ recycling collection bins for aluminum, plastic, and paper, and we recycle toner cartridges and electronic equipment. During branch renovations in 2025, we donated approximately 150 pieces of furniture to nonprofit and other organizations rather than sending these items to the landfill. We upgraded parking lot lights from high energy to LED in seven locations in 2025, and Peoples is at approximately 85% full LED lighting at all of its locations. In 2025, Peoples continued its purchase of renewable energy production for a majority of its Ohio locations. Peoples also purchased an Advanced Manufacturing (IRS Section 45x) credit related to the production of solar energy components in 2025. Going forward, we will continue to focus on reducing paper usage through digitization, waste reduction and energy and resource efficiency in our facilities.

One of our core values is Clients First. This means doing what is in the best interest and meets the needs of the client, and not pushing products. We are committed to meeting the financial needs of those in the communities we serve, including all low and moderate-income and minority areas within our communities. We have consumer lending products such as our Dreams2Keys program, which helps borrowers in a low to moderate-income census tract or located in a majority-minority census tract gain homeownership. We offer many ways to avoid the maintenance fee on our checking and savings products. Peoples Bank closed 535 small business loans totaling $90.4 million in 2025.

Meeting the needs of our clients also means providing excellent service and timely resolution of any issues or questions they raise. To that end, we established a Client Experience position in 2023 to streamline customer complaint management and resolution and to drive the implementation of client-focused improvements. We also made a significant investment in 2023, 2024 and 2025 in the implementation of Salesforce customer relationship management (CRM) software, enabling us to better connect with and serve our clients. In addition, in early 2024, we created an internal call center to support our client-facing associates in delivering timely and effective assistance to our clients. Since its inception, we have added three additional positions to create a Client Experience team, to further enhance capacity and responsiveness to our clients.

In 2025, Peoples received many accolades for how we take care of our clients. The following are a few notable examples:

• Finished in the top 25% in the United States in terms of SBA 7(a) approved loans
• Recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best-In-State Banks 2025

Lastly, security of client information is always a top priority for Peoples, and we have established strong governance measures to protect the privacy and security of client information to ensure compliance with all privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations through physical, electronic and procedural safeguards. We evaluate our cybersecurity readiness through internal reviews and external audits, as well as through regulatory oversight by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the Ohio Department of Commerce – Division of Financial Institutions.

We believe that strong governance and sustainability oversight is essential to providing long-term value for our shareholders. In 2025, our stock dividend yield and stock payout ratio remained competitive as compared to our peers.

Our corporate governance program provides a foundation for operating our business in a manner that is fair, ethical and responsible. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines reflect our Board’s commitment to sound and effective governance and serve as a framework for the governance of our company. Our Code of Ethics outlines our principles that help each of us make the right decisions when conducting business.

Over 90% of our directors are independent, which allows for our Board to provide objective oversight of management performance and overall risk management. Our Board is also diverse, with 55% of directors being diverse in terms of gender or race/ethnicity as of February 23, 2026. Our leadership structure consists of a different person serving as each of the Chief Executive Officer and non-executive Chairman of the Board, with the Chairman of the Board being an independent director. We believe this leadership structure allows the Board to provide effective oversight of management.

Peoples utilizes a comprehensive enterprise risk management framework to identify, assess, measure, monitor, report and control risks throughout the company, including ESG related risks. The Risk Committee is comprised of all the independent directors of the Board, in addition to Peoples’ Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), and is responsible for oversight of our risk management processes. Our management level risk committee, which consists of senior leaders at Peoples and reports directly to the Risk Committee, develops and recommends our risk appetite for approval by the Risk Committee, monitors key risk indicators and assesses and monitors current and emerging risks. Peoples’ Chief Risk Officer oversees our enterprise risk management framework and reports directly to the Risk Committee and administratively to our CEO.

We believe our compensation programs and philosophy are appropriately designed to reward performance, protect the interests of our shareholders, and provide appropriate incentives to executive management, while not encouraging excessive risk taking. We believe that tying compensation to the results achieved is vital to the long-term sustainability of Peoples.

While we are pleased to share our ESG story, we do, however, remain conscious of the need to continuously improve our ability to create value for our associates, our communities, our clients and our shareholders. Doing so is essential to achieving our goal of being the “Best Community Bank in America.” In 2026 and beyond, we will remain vigilant to maintain rigorous ESG standards, enhance our sustainability efforts and focus on implementing a best-in-class program.