Best lenders
Lenders for large SBA loans
Lenders whose typical deal runs past $1 million, for acquisitions, buildings and expansion.
At the top of the 7(a) program the lender list changes completely. These are the institutions whose ordinary deal is a business acquisition, a building, or a major expansion — and several of the biggest names by volume do not appear here at all, because their book is small loans.
| # | Lender | Loans | Median loan | Median rate | To startups | Charge-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GBank | 536 | $2,711,000 | 9.00% | 25.4% | 2.9% |
| 2 | US Metro Bank | 398 | $1,530,000 | 8.75% | 27.1% | 3.0% |
| 3 | T Bank | 294 | $1,336,300 | 10.00% | 22.1% | 7.3% |
| 4 | Pathward | 388 | $1,220,000 | 9.75% | 28.9% | 4.7% |
| 5 | Port 51 Lending LLC | 423 | $1,200,000 | 10.00% | 24.3% | n/a |
| 6 | Metro City Bank | 337 | $1,130,000 | 9.00% | 36.2% | 2.5% |
| 7 | Enterprise Bank & Trust | 566 | $1,106,000 | 8.50% | 29.7% | 1.3% |
| 8 | Truliant FCU | 292 | $1,028,000 | 10.25% | 10.3% | 8.4% |
| 9 | Open Bank | 402 | $977,000 | 9.25% | 11.4% | 1.5% |
| 10 | Truist Bank | 262 | $942,900 | 8.75% | 23.3% | 4.7% |
| 11 | First Internet Bank of Indiana | 1,327 | $905,000 | 10.25% | 41.0% | 4.5% |
| 12 | City National Bank | 328 | $901,250 | 6.80% | 20.1% | 1.9% |
| 13 | Shoreham Bank | 270 | $897,500 | 9.75% | 31.9% | 3.4% |
| 14 | HomeTrust Bank | 256 | $800,000 | 10.00% | 57.4% | 2.4% |
| 15 | Byline Bank | 1,442 | $770,000 | 10.50% | 38.8% | 11.4% |
| 16 | Commonwealth Business Bank | 413 | $750,000 | 9.50% | 27.6% | 2.7% |
| 17 | Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC | 1,273 | $735,000 | 10.25% | 24.7% | 0.8% |
| 18 | Pinnacle Bank | 672 | $731,500 | 9.75% | 46.0% | 5.9% |
| 19 | The Bancorp Bank | 408 | $700,000 | 9.00% | 40.0% | 9.1% |
| 20 | First National Bank of Pennsylvania | 427 | $700,000 | 9.75% | 54.3% | 10.0% |
| 21 | First Financial Bank | 590 | $700,000 | 8.50% | 38.6% | 4.4% |
| 22 | Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company | 379 | $697,500 | 10.25% | 51.5% | 7.4% |
| 23 | VelocitySBA, LLC | 506 | $695,000 | 10.50% | 27.7% | 20.5% |
| 24 | Merchants Bank of Indiana | 258 | $672,850 | 9.75% | 34.9% | n/a |
| 25 | America First Federal Credit Union | 347 | $661,700 | 8.00% | 44.7% | 2.3% |
| 26 | Midwest Regional Bank | 297 | $659,000 | 10.25% | 39.7% | 12.1% |
| 27 | TowneBank | 614 | $655,850 | 10.25% | 43.2% | 7.0% |
| 28 | Live Oak Banking Company | 6,121 | $625,000 | 9.49% | 26.7% | 2.6% |
| 29 | PCB Bank | 346 | $615,000 | 9.25% | 36.7% | 3.4% |
| 30 | First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | 423 | $610,000 | 9.75% | 29.6% | 6.3% |
A note that applies to every table on this page. Loans, median loan, median rate and startup share are that lender's recent 7(a) lending, fiscal years 2023 to 2026, using data released June 2026. Charge-off is necessarily computed on an older set of loans — cohorts old enough to have either been repaid or failed — because a loan approved last year has not had time to go bad. They are not the same loans, and a lender that has changed its credit standards will look inconsistent across the two. Read them as two separate facts about the same institution.
What changes above $1 million
- The rate cap is lower by rule. The SBA's maximum spread narrows as the loan grows, so large loans are structurally cheaper. See the rate caps.
- Underwriting is genuinely manual. Expect a real credit committee, a site visit, and questions about your projections rather than a scorecard.
- Timelines stretch. Months, not weeks. Plan the closing date backwards.
- Collateral and guarantees get serious, and in an acquisition the seller's note and your equity injection become central to whether it works at all.
Related
If this is an acquisition, business acquisition loans covers the structure, and how much down payment to buy a business covers the equity question that kills most of these deals.
The other rankings
Most active lenders
Who actually makes the most SBA loans, by volume.
Lowest rates
Ranked on the rate borrowers actually got, not advertised ranges.
Small loans
Who lends under $100,000, which is the hardest money to find.
Large loans
Lenders whose typical deal runs past $1 million.
Track record
Charge-off rates by lender, including the ones nobody publishes.
Lenders who fund startups
Ranked by startup loans actually made.