Interactive charts and tables built from FY2025 SBA program data. Aggregated from official sources and the Coleman Report Top 100 study (68,435 loans reviewed).
$37.3B
7(a) volume
+13.2% YoY
78,078
Loans approved
+22.5% YoY
$45.1B
7(a) + 504 combined
Highest on record
64.1%
Of loans through PLP
Faster, delegated underwriting
Dollar volume in $ billions (bars, left axis) and loan count in thousands (line, right axis).
SourceAmPac SBA 7(a) Lending 2025 Trends; Coleman Report FY25.
Over 50% of FY2025 loans are under $150K — small-dollar lending grew 228% since FY2021.
SourceSBA FY2025 7(a) approval data, pre-aggregated.
WSJ Prime base (dark) plus the maximum spread allowed by SBA (purple). Smaller loans cost more — by design.
SourceSBA SOP 50 10 8 maximum spread schedule, May 2026.
The SBA’s overall denial rate is 45% — more than double the 21% rate across all loan types. But the disparity by lender type is more than 20 points — and it’s actionable.
Big banks evaluate strict cash-flow and credit screens. Mission-driven CDFIs and microlenders approve borderline files at materially higher rates.
SourceLendingTree 2024 Denial Study; Crestmont Capital.
Lenders price risk at the industry level. Self-storage borrowers get one quote; full-service restaurant buyers get another. These are the numbers underwriters actually use.
Acquisition loans default at 1.93% — 29% lower than non-acquisition.
SourceEBIT Community SBA Acquisition Market Pulse Q4 2025.
Cumulative charge-off rate by industry. Self-storage and vet practices are the safest lender bets; trucking and full-service restaurants are the riskiest.
SourceEBIT Community Q4 2025.
FY2025 saw the program’s first $2B+ lender (Live Oak), and the top 5 all crossed $1B. But rates on similar loans range from 7.60% to 12%+. Sort the table to see where you fit.
Top 20 SBA 7(a) lenders by approved volume. Click any column to sort — rates vary by more than 4.5 percentage points.
| #↑ | Lender | Volume | Loans | Avg Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Live Oak BankingPLP | $2.7B | 2,148 | 9.20% |
| 2 | Huntington National BankPLP | $1.9B | 6,071 | 9.63% |
| 3 | Newtek BankPLP | $1.5B | 4,056 | 10.91% |
| 4 | Northeast BankPLP | $1.1B | 6,307 | 10.93% |
| 5 | Readycap LendingPLP | $901M | 2,430 | 11.94% |
| 6 | U.S. BankPLP | $853M | 3,138 | 9.97% |
| 7 | Celtic BankPLP | $552M | 1,440 | 10.45% |
| 8 | Wells FargoPLP | $479M | 1,335 | 10.90% |
| 9 | JPMorgan ChasePLP | $465M | 1,471 | 10.87% |
| 10 | Bank of AmericaPLP | $453M | 753 | 7.60% |
| 11 | TD BankPLP | $423M | 2,935 | 10.43% |
| 12 | First Bank of the LakePLP | $393M | 575 | 10.70% |
| 13 | United Midwest SavingsPLP | $359M | 919 | 10.09% |
| 14 | Cadence BankPLP | $348M | 640 | 10.08% |
| 15 | M&T BankPLP | $302M | 2,782 | 11.38% |
| 16 | Lendistry SBLC | $284M | 1,334 | 12.11% |
| 17 | Zions BankPLP | $229M | 1,168 | 10.18% |
| 18 | BayFirst National BankPLP | $228M | 1,372 | 12.07% |
| 19 | KeyBankPLP | $215M | 661 | 10.33% |
| 20 | Columbia BankPLP | $75M | 666 | 12.12% |
SourceColeman Report Top 100 SBA 7(a) Lenders FY25 + GoSBA 100 Best SBA Lenders (68,435 loans reviewed). PLP = Preferred Lender Program (delegated SBA authority).
Scenario
Headline rate is 10.5%. The full picture adds roughly 1.45% in upfront cost — most of which most borrowers don’t see until closing.
SBA guarantee fee
Charged once at closing — typically passed to the borrower.
$13,125
Packaging & broker fees
What a $15K broker quote often covers — Backable removes this.
$8,000
Third-party costs
Appraisal, environmental, business valuation, legal, title.
$12,000
Total upfront cost
$33,125
Effective APR runs roughly 11.95% once you amortize fees over the life of the loan.
Backable builds the file and matches your profile to the lenders most likely to fund it. Skip the broker. Skip the guesswork.