REPUBLIC BANCORP INC KY

As of the end of the period covered by this report, an evaluation was carried out by Republic Bancorp, Inc.’s management, with the participation of its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934). Based upon that evaluation, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that these disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this report.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f)promulgated under the Exchange Act. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. There are inherent limitations in the effectiveness of internal control, including the possibility of human error and the circumvention or overriding of controls. Accordingly, even effective internal control can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to reliability of financial statements.

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Executive Chair/Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (“COSO”) of the

Treadway Commission (“2013 Framework”). Based on our evaluation under the COSO 2013 Framework, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2024. In addition, no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) occurred during the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2024 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Forvis Mazars LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, has audited the 2024 Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and, as part of its audit, has issued an attestation report, included in Item 8. Financial Statement and Supplemental Data, on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.

Remediation of Material Weakness

As previously disclosed in Item 9A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, the Company determined that a material weakness existed as of December 31, 2022, as the Company did not maintain effective controls over the initial implementation of new products offered through third parties within RPG. Specifically, management identified that an RCS product’s contractual terms were not sufficiently communicated internally, and the controls were not designed to identify and test all relevant transactional data posting to the Company’s financial statements for the product.

The Company took measures to remediate this material weakness during 2023. The Company did not offer; however, any new material third-party products within the RPG group during 2024 or 2023, and as such, management was unable to test its enhanced policies and procedures for new product implementation. Although the controls related to new RPG products have not been tested for remediation, management assessed, as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the severity of the deficiencies related to new RPG products and the maximum potential impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Based on this assessment, management concluded that no material weakness existed as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 related to new RPG products. A material weakness will not be considered remediated until the enhanced controls related to that material weakness are implemented and operate for a sufficient period, and management has concluded that these controls are operating effectively.

As previously disclosed, the Company determined that there were two other material weaknesses as of December 31, 2022, that were remediated as of December 31, 2023.