Best lenders
Most active SBA 7(a) lenders
Which lenders actually approve the most SBA 7(a) loans, from the loan-level record.
Volume is the bluntest measure here, and also the most practical one. A lender that approves thousands of 7(a) loans has a department that does this every day, knows the paperwork, and will not treat your file as an unusual request. A bank that approves four a year may still do an excellent job, but it will be slower.
| # | Lender | Loans | Median loan | Median rate | To startups | Charge-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Huntington National Bank | 25,303 | $100,000 | 10.25% | 43.3% | 6.2% |
| 2 | TD Bank | 10,921 | $50,000 | 11.50% | 28.9% | 14.6% |
| 3 | U.S. Bank | 9,822 | $45,000 | 9.49% | 34.0% | 6.4% |
| 4 | Newtek Bank | 8,564 | $200,000 | 11.25% | 17.2% | n/a |
| 5 | Readycap Lending, LLC | 7,695 | $108,000 | 11.25% | 13.6% | 6.4% |
| 6 | Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | 7,591 | $50,000 | 11.25% | 40.9% | 7.9% |
| 7 | BayFirst National Bank | 6,974 | $150,000 | 12.25% | 1.9% | 21.7% |
| 8 | Northeast Bank | 6,457 | $105,000 | 10.75% | 11.2% | 12.4% |
| 9 | JPMorgan Chase Bank | 6,438 | $196,800 | 11.68% | 7.0% | 7.5% |
| 10 | Live Oak Banking Company | 6,121 | $625,000 | 9.49% | 26.7% | 2.6% |
| 11 | Wells Fargo Bank | 6,069 | $20,000 | 13.00% | 86.4% | 7.9% |
| 12 | Celtic Bank Corporation | 3,776 | $150,000 | 10.25% | 16.8% | 18.7% |
| 13 | Lendistry SBLC, LLC | 3,397 | $150,000 | 12.25% | 0.7% | 21.4% |
| 14 | United Midwest Savings Bank | 2,807 | $150,000 | 10.25% | 80.0% | 18.6% |
| 15 | Bank of America | 2,770 | $350,000 | 7.23% | 17.5% | 3.1% |
| 16 | Zions Bank | 2,678 | $114,150 | 10.00% | 35.3% | 6.1% |
| 17 | KeyBank | 2,504 | $50,000 | 10.77% | 68.3% | 4.5% |
| 18 | Columbia Bank | 2,074 | $50,000 | 12.50% | 10.6% | 8.5% |
| 19 | First Bank of the Lake | 1,817 | $333,000 | 10.75% | 68.8% | n/a |
| 20 | PNC Bank | 1,667 | $50,000 | 11.50% | 38.1% | 8.3% |
| 21 | Fifth Third Bank | 1,483 | $250,000 | 9.50% | 25.8% | 5.7% |
| 22 | Byline Bank | 1,442 | $770,000 | 10.50% | 38.8% | 11.4% |
| 23 | First Internet Bank of Indiana | 1,327 | $905,000 | 10.25% | 41.0% | 4.5% |
| 24 | Banco Popular de Puerto Rico | 1,321 | $50,000 | 11.75% | 31.2% | 4.7% |
| 25 | Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC | 1,273 | $735,000 | 10.25% | 24.7% | 0.8% |
| 26 | Eastern Bank | 1,223 | $75,000 | 10.00% | 16.1% | 7.1% |
| 27 | SouthState Bank | 1,178 | $277,250 | 10.75% | 19.9% | 3.5% |
| 28 | CenTrust Bank | 1,107 | $150,000 | 11.25% | 2.0% | 4.1% |
| 29 | Citizens Bank | 1,096 | $500,000 | 10.25% | 60.7% | 4.4% |
| 30 | Bank of Hope | 1,088 | $375,000 | 9.50% | 35.8% | 6.8% |
| 31 | CDC Small Business Finance Corp | 1,055 | $150,000 | 11.25% | 58.4% | 18.8% |
| 32 | Colony Bank | 958 | $150,000 | 11.50% | 16.7% | 9.1% |
| 33 | Old National Bank | 881 | $500,000 | 8.50% | 37.0% | 5.3% |
| 34 | Banner Bank | 833 | $100,000 | 9.25% | 19.4% | 3.5% |
| 35 | Beacon Bank and Trust | 823 | $594,000 | 10.00% | 27.8% | 5.0% |
| 36 | Northwest Bank | 733 | $200,000 | 10.75% | 49.1% | 3.7% |
| 37 | Webster Bank | 679 | $200,000 | 9.75% | 15.2% | 4.7% |
| 38 | Mountain America FCU | 678 | $50,000 | 10.25% | 36.4% | 3.8% |
| 39 | Pinnacle Bank | 672 | $731,500 | 9.75% | 46.0% | 5.9% |
| 40 | Hanmi Bank | 663 | $562,500 | 9.50% | 17.3% | 6.8% |
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 volume does and does not tell you
- It tells you the lender is committed to the program. SBA lending is operationally painful. Doing a lot of it means having built for it.
- It tells you nothing about approval odds. High volume often comes with high selectivity, and some of the biggest names decline most of what they see.
- It does not mean they want your loan. Check the median loan size column: a lender doing 10,000 loans at a median of $50,000 is running a small-loan operation and may not look at a $1.5 million project.
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.