When Peoples Exchange Bank started in 1907, the word PEOPLE in our name defined who we are about, You! Our mission is to profitably deliver quality customer services that meet the financial needs of our communities, its businesses, and its citizens, while helping enhance the lives of those communities including employees and shareholders.

I see our bank as the primary bank for people who prefer the personal service of a community bank with the conveniences of larger banks. When customers turn to us, they should have available to them many of the financial products and services that they are accustomed to having. Therefore, our bank has made commitments to leverage our technology so that it will continually evolve and meet the desires of our customers. Thus, you can have both the benefit of dealing with real people in a community bank along with the availability of advanced technology delivery systems.

Obviously, we have faced along with our customers the economic challenges caused by the pandemic, but the financial strength of Peoples Exchange Bank remains the highest it has ever been, and we still remain among the strongest capitalized banks in the state of Alabama. Events of such great magnitude, like the ones we all have experienced over the last two years, regardless of our personal feelings or political standing, can have a positive long-term impact on our organization and lives depending on our reactions. So, we are continuing to look towards the future, and I have placed even more urgency on my efforts related to critical questioning of and departure from the status quo. We must use these recent years as a window of opportunity by appreciating that our current practices and beliefs may not, in fact, be optimal and that change may be needed. We can boast that our bank has met those challenges and progressed throughout the years working towards our expectations for providing a bank that you deserve in the kinds of products and the quality of service. We will continue to be sensitive to the needs of our longtime base of customers in trying to maintain services that they have enjoyed over the years, while at the same time creating new ideas that will appeal to the younger generation of future customers.

We also have a dedicated group of people with a wide range of experience that I feel no other financial institution can match. Without their dedication, resourcefulness and creativity, our task would be harder to accomplish. Our people also contribute to the quality of our communities by serving on boards, coaching youth sports, teaching Sunday school and various other areas of opportunity, which speaks highly of the quality of the individuals who serve our customers and shareholders.

In closing, Peoples Exchange will remain committed to be a community bank in the truest of definition, while diligently striving to improve your experience as a customer. On behalf of everyone at our bank, we thank you for your business or we look forward to serving you as a new customer.

Harvey J Gaston, Jr
Chief Executive Officer