CITIZENS & NORTHERN CORP (CZNC) Business

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Citizens & Northern Corporation (“Corporation”) is a bank holding company whose principal activity is community banking. The Corporation’s principal office is located in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. The largest subsidiary is Citizens & Northern Bank (“C&N Bank” or the “Bank”). The Corporation’s other wholly-owned subsidiaries are Citizens & Northern Investment Corporation and Bucktail Life Insurance Company (“Bucktail”). Citizens & Northern Investment Corporation was formed in 1999 to engage in investment activities. Bucktail reinsures credit and mortgage life and accident and health insurance on behalf of C&N Bank.

C&N Bank is a Pennsylvania banking institution that was formed by the consolidation of Northern National Bank of Wellsboro and Citizens National Bank of Towanda in 1971. C&N Bank has operated under its current name since May 6, 1975, at which time C&N Bank changed its charter from a national bank to a Pennsylvania bank. The Bank has expanded its presence over the past several decades through a series of mergers as well as by opening new branch and lending offices and providing access to banking services via the internet and through ATMs. At December 31, 2025, the Bank had 35 branch offices, including 28 in the Northern tier/Northcentral region of Pennsylvania, 1 in the Southern tier of New York State, 4 in Southeastern Pennsylvania (3 in Bucks County and 1 in Chester County) and 2 in Southcentral Pennsylvania (York and Lancaster). In addition to its branch locations, the Bank has a lending office in Elmira, New York.

On October 1, 2025, the Corporation completed its previously announced merger with Susquehanna Community Financial, Inc. (“Susquehanna”). Susquehanna was the parent company of Susquehanna Community Bank, with seven banking offices located in Lycoming, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties in Pennsylvania. Pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated April 23, 2025 between the Corporation and Susquehanna, Susquehanna merged with and into the Corporation, with the Corporation as the surviving corporation in the Merger. Immediately following the completion of the Merger, Susquehanna Community Bank, the wholly owned subsidiary of Susquehanna, merged with and into C&N Bank, with C&N Bank surviving. The Corporation issued 2,272,948 shares of common stock to the former Susquehanna stockholders resulting in total merger consideration valued at $44.6 million. Management believes the combination creates additional scale in central Pennsylvania and further diversifies its loan portfolio and funding base, thus increasing resiliency and efficiency.

Since 2019, the Corporation has expanded into Southeastern Pennsylvania by acquisitions and Southcentral Pennsylvania by opening new branches. The Corporation acquired Covenant Financial, Inc. (“Covenant”), effective July 1, 2020. Covenant was the parent company of Covenant Bank, a commercial bank which operated a community bank office in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and another in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The Covenant acquisition followed the 2019 acquisition of Monument Bancorp, Inc. (“Monument”), a commercial bank with offices in Bucks County. In Southcentral Pennsylvania, in 2021, the Corporation converted the lending office in York, Pennsylvania to a full-service branch and established a new branch in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Mainly as a result of the acquisitions and subsequent growth in the newer markets, the Corporation’s consolidated total assets at December 31, 2025 increased to $3.1 billion, up 89% from the corresponding total at December 31, 2019. Similarly, gross loans of $2.4 billion at December 31, 2025 were up 99% from December 31, 2019 and total deposits of $2.6 billion were up 105% from December 31, 2019.

C&N Bank provides an extensive range of banking services, including deposit and loan products for personal and commercial customers. The Bank also provides wealth management services through its trust department and C&N Financial Services, LLC (“CNFS”). The trust department offers a wide range of financial services, such as 401(k) plans, retirement planning, estate planning, estate settlements and asset management. CNFS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bank, is a licensed insurance agency that provides insurance products to individuals and businesses and through a broker-dealer arrangement, offers mutual funds, annuities, educational savings accounts and other investment products through registered agents. CNFS’s operations are not significant in relation to the total operations of the Corporation.

Northern Tier Holding LLC acquires, holds and disposes of real property acquired by the Bank through foreclosure procedures. C&N Bank is the sole member of Northern Tier Holding LLC.

All phases of the Bank’s business are competitive. The Bank competes with fintech and other online financial institutions, local commercial banks headquartered in our market areas and other commercial banks with branches in our market areas. Many of the online financial institutions and some of the banks that have branches in our market areas are larger in overall size. With respect to lending activities and attracting deposits, the Bank also competes with savings banks, savings and loan associations, insurance companies, regulated small loan companies and credit unions. Also, the Bank competes with mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other

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investment vehicles for deposits. C&N Bank competes with insurance companies, investment counseling firms, mutual funds and other business firms and individuals for trust, investment management, brokerage and insurance services. The Bank is generally competitive with all financial institutions in our service areas with respect to interest rates paid on time and savings deposits, service charges on deposit accounts and interest rates charged on loans. The Bank serves a diverse customer base and is not economically dependent on any small group of customers or on any individual industry.

At December 31, 2025, C&N Bank had total assets of $3,121,869,000, total deposits of $2,584,952,000 and net loans outstanding of $2,323,317,000.

Most activities of the Corporation and its subsidiaries are regulated by federal or state agencies. Our primary regulatory relationships are as follows:

A copy of the Corporation’s annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current events reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports, are available, free of charge, through the Corporation’s web site at www.cnbankpa.com. These reports, as well as any amendments thereto, are posted on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with the SEC. The information contained on our website or in any websites linked by our website is not a part of this 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Human Capital

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The Corporation’s Board of Directors and executive leadership team have established the following mission, vision and values:

Mission: Creating value through lifelong relationships with our customers, teammates, shareholders and communities.

Vision: Every customer says “C&N is the ONLY bank I need.”

Values: Teamwork, Respect, Responsibility and Accountability, Excellence, Integrity, Client Focus, Have Fun.

We recognize that our ability to create value on a consistent basis is highly dependent upon the effectiveness of our team.

The Corporation’s key human capital management objectives are to attract and retain diverse raw and seasoned talent that fits our values and culture. Our talent strategy focuses on acquiring new employees through branding and outreach programs, developing employees through a robust onboarding program, ongoing training, and performance management, and retaining employees through recognition, engagement, and an attractive total rewards package. At December 31, 2025, the Corporation had 460 full-time equivalent employees.

At C&N Bank, we are committed to creating value through relationships. At the heart of this mission is a promise of excellence in service to all people, as demonstrated by our commitment to equity of opportunity, inclusion and our fostering of a spirit of belonging. We live our values of respect, integrity and excellence by creating access and providing support to help our diverse constituents of customers, teammates, shareholders and communities in achieving their financial goals. We embrace inclusion of all of our stakeholders as an important component of our vision to be the ONLY bank our customers need.

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Compensation and Benefits

The Corporation offers competitive compensation to attract and retain talent. Our generous total rewards package includes market-competitive salary, bonuses or sales commissions, short-term and long-term equity incentives, healthcare and retirement benefits, and paid time off. Employees have regular performance reviews and receive salary raises commensurate with performance. Employees have access to a holistic suite of items within our employee assistance program that caters to physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing for the employee and their family.

Training and Development

The Corporation provides a robust training and development program that supports our culture, prepares employees for their immediate role, develops them for long term success at the Bank and supports personal enrichment. We offer functional training, culture building exercises, personal development, C&N Bank history, C&N Bank integration and ongoing technical training throughout each year. Employees also have access to additional educational and development opportunities including tuition reimbursement and certification programs.

Communication and Engagement

At C&N, we believe in the importance of employee communication and engagement. We utilize several methods to foster engagement, including activities such as Employee Recognition programs, Service Anniversary Awards, Bank wide monthly calls, semi-annual Bank wide events, annual employee surveys, focus groups, daily huddles, and the Giving Back, Giving Together community service program. We believe keeping our team well informed, connected, and appreciated adds to the success of our organization.

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