Bank Nerd Corner welcomes Michael Perito, senior vice president and head of corporate strategy at Jersey City, New Jersey-based Provident Bank.

Banker’s Hours explores the personalities in banking for some real talk on important, interesting and fun topics. 

Mike and Kiah talk about his career trajectory of covering banks as a sell-side equity analyst to joining Provident Financial Services, where he helps build and execute the $25 billion bank’s strategy.

They discuss a few trends he expects to see in 2026, including why he thinks interest in bank deals will remain high and how fintech competitors should affect how banks think about their core customers. They also explore what it means to be a high-performing bank and whether and when asset size matters in banking. 

Follow Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-perito-5b761023/

Fintech Takes Banking is the weekly newsletter for bank execs who get it. Subscribe for the latest in regulation, tech, financials, operations and, yes, accounting, straight to your inbox: https://fintechtakes.com/banking/newsletter-subscription/

Follow Kiah:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett