Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina is a community bank holding company whose sole operating asset is Peoples Bank, a state-chartered commercial bank founded in 1912 and headquartered in Newton, North Carolina. Peoples Bank serves individuals and small-to-medium-sized businesses in the Catawba Valley region of western North Carolina through 15 branch offices and several loan production offices. The bank's core activities are lending and deposit-taking: its loan portfolio is primarily commercial real estate loans, along with commercial loans across various industries, and it funds these loans through deposits gathered from local individuals and businesses. Peoples Bank makes money primarily through net interest income — the spread between what it earns on loans and securities and what it pays on deposits. Key profitability drivers include loan volume and mix, deposit costs, the interest rate environment, and credit quality. Beyond interest income, Peoples Bank earns fee income through subsidiaries including Peoples Investment Services (brokerage and investment products via Raymond James), Real Estate Advisory Services (appraisals and brokerage), and CBRES, an appraisal clearinghouse for other community banks. Peoples Bank holds the #1 deposit share in its home Catawba County with roughly 24% of deposits, and has extended its reach into the broader Charlotte metro area through branches in Charlotte, Huntersville, and Mooresville, and loan production offices in several additional markets.