SBA Franchise Loans
Search a franchise to see which lenders actually fund it, how many SBA 7(a) loans they've made, and typical loan sizes. Real SBA FOIA data across 3,414+ brands.
SBA FOIA 7(a) loan-level data, FY2021 through FY2026, franchise loans only.
The lenders that finance the most franchises
Ranked by approved franchise loan count since 2021. Being at the top means a lender is experienced with franchise files, not that they want yours: appetite moves by brand and by quarter, which is what the individual brand pages are for.
| # | Lender | Franchise loans | Total Volume | Avg Loan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Huntington National Bank | 7,963 | $2.5B | $309K |
| 2 | United Midwest Savings Bank National Association | 3,313 | $704.8M | $213K |
| 3 | Live Oak Banking Company | 1,877 | $2.1B | $1.1M |
| 4 | First Bank of the Lake | 1,327 | $797.8M | $601K |
| 5 | Citizens Bank | 878 | $534.0M | $608K |
| 6 | Readycap Lending, LLC | 683 | $739.0M | $1.1M |
| 7 | GBank | 635 | $2.0B | $3.2M |
| 8 | Celtic Bank Corporation | 601 | $1.0B | $1.7M |
| 9 | Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | 597 | $138.6M | $232K |
| 10 | Byline Bank | 539 | $578.3M | $1.1M |
| 11 | United Community Bank | 470 | $334.7M | $712K |
| 12 | Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 461 | $386.4M | $838K |
| 13 | KeyBank National Association | 459 | $276.9M | $603K |
| 14 | U.S. Bank, National Association | 438 | $268.2M | $612K |
| 15 | Newtek Bank, National Association | 416 | $138.0M | $332K |
Source: SBA FOIA 7(a) loan-level data, FY2021 through FY2026. Lenders with fewer than 10 approved franchise loans are excluded.
Most-financed franchises
Brands with the most SBA 7(a) loans since 2021.
Common questions
Which franchises are SBA approved?
There is no short list. The SBA maintains a Franchise Directory of brands reviewed for eligibility, and a brand being absent from it does not automatically mean a deal cannot be done, it means the lender has to review the agreement themselves. We hold loan data for 3,414 brands that have actually been financed with a 7(a) loan since 2021, which is a more useful test than a directory listing: somebody already got this deal through. Each brand page shows its directory status alongside its loan history.
Which lenders finance franchises?
1,227 different lenders have approved franchise 7(a) loans since 2021, so the field is much wider than the handful of names that market to franchisees. The fifteen most active are ranked on this page. Volume tells you who is experienced, not who wants your particular brand, and those are different questions: a lender with thousands of franchise loans may still decline yours if they have no appetite for your sector this quarter.
How does SBA franchise financing work?
The same way any other 7(a) loan does. There is no separate franchise program and no separate rate. What is different is the paperwork: the lender has to review your franchise agreement for control provisions, and where a brand is on the SBA Franchise Directory that review is already largely done, which usually means a faster file. Your franchise fee and initial build-out can normally be included in the project cost.
Is a franchise easier to finance than an independent business?
Often, and not for the reason people assume. It is not that lenders prefer brands. It is that a franchise with hundreds of prior SBA loans gives an underwriter a comparison set: they can see what these units typically cost, what they typically earn, and how the existing loans have performed. An independent business with no comparable is a harder file to judge, whatever its numbers look like.
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