Top SBA Lenders in Mississippi
The 25 most active SBA 7(a) lenders in Mississippi, ranked by number of loans. Data comes directly from SBA FOIA records covering every approved 7(a) loan from 2021 through 2026.
Explore the full dataset →Why your SBA lender matters
Not every SBA lender will work your deal. Lenders specialize by industry, deal size, and loan purpose, and their approval, funding, and default patterns vary significantly from institution to institution. Matching your deal to a lender with the right historical activity in your market gives you a better shot at a clean, predictable close.
| # | Lender | Loans | Total Volume | Avg Loan | Funded % | Default % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peoples Bank | 323 | $118.7M | $368K | 92.0% | 2.0% |
| 2 | Community Bank of Mississippi | 191 | $83.4M | $436K | 81.7% | 1.3% |
| 3 | Trustmark Bank | 157 | $41.4M | $264K | 82.2% | 8.5% |
| 4 | BankFirst Financial Services | 149 | $67.7M | $454K | 98.7% | 2.0% |
| 5 | Northeast Bank | 88 | $10.6M | $121K | 50.0% | 2.3% |
| 6 | Newtek Bank, National Association | 79 | $23.1M | $293K | 65.8% | 0.0% |
| 7 | The Huntington National Bank | 75 | $50.2M | $669K | 88.0% | 0.0% |
| 8 | Live Oak Banking Company | 66 | $96.1M | $1.5M | 81.8% | 0.0% |
| 9 | Covington County Bank | 61 | $7.7M | $126K | 91.8% | 1.8% |
| 10 | BankPlus | 57 | $40.7M | $714K | 94.7% | 0.0% |
| 11 | First Financial Bank | 51 | $38.8M | $762K | 86.3% | 0.0% |
| 12 | The Citizens National Bank of Meridian | 50 | $14.6M | $292K | 80.0% | 0.0% |
| 13 | Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 44 | $11.9M | $270K | 81.8% | 2.8% |
| 13 | Readycap Lending, LLC | 44 | $11.0M | $249K | 81.8% | 0.0% |
| 15 | Hancock Whitney Bank | 41 | $23.8M | $580K | 95.1% | 0.0% |
| 16 | Renasant Bank | 39 | $50.4M | $1.3M | 71.8% | 0.0% |
| 17 | Southern Bancorp Bank | 37 | $45.8M | $1.2M | 81.1% | 0.0% |
| 18 | BayFirst National Bank | 32 | $5.8M | $181K | 90.6% | 6.9% |
| 19 | United Midwest Savings Bank National Association | 27 | $10.1M | $372K | 88.9% | 8.3% |
| 20 | Celtic Bank Corporation | 20 | $26.4M | $1.3M | 80.0% | 0.0% |
| 21 | First Bank of the Lake | 19 | $19.1M | $1.0M | 68.4% | 0.0% |
| 22 | GBank | 17 | $45.5M | $2.7M | 94.1% | 0.0% |
| 23 | First State Bank | 16 | $8.7M | $546K | 87.5% | 0.0% |
| 24 | Newtek Small Business Finance, LLC | 15 | $5.9M | $392K | 60.0% | 0.0% |
| 24 | Merchants & Marine Bank | 15 | $5.6M | $373K | 100.0% | 0.0% |
Source: SBA FOIA 7(a) loan-level data, FY2021–FY2026. Lenders with fewer than 3 approved loans in Mississippi during this period are excluded. Funded % = approved loans that were funded. Default % = SBA-purchased loans divided by funded loans. Rankings are by total loan count.
How to read this table
Funded % is the share of approved loans that actually closed. A lender with a high approval rate but low funded rate may be approving deals they later back out of, which is a sign of a disorganized process or shifting appetite.
Default % is the share of funded loans that the SBA had to purchase (the borrower stopped paying). A high default rate isn't automatically disqualifying (some lenders specialize in riskier deals), but it affects how cautious their underwriting is likely to be.
Loan count vs. total volume tell different stories. A lender at the top by loan count may specialize in smaller deals; a lender with fewer but larger loans may only work with mid-market acquisitions. Match your deal size to their typical range.
Volume rankings show who's historically active in Mississippi. They don't tell you who's actively lending right now or who has the right appetite for your specific industry and deal structure. That's where we come in.
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