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Quite a few Illinois-based banks were among the largest lenders to “Prairie State” businesses through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 7(a) program. Whether your business is a restaurant, auto repair, medical practice, funeral home, veterinary or hotel, your mission is to exceed your customer expectations. So, if you’re ready to step up your business to the next level, here are the top SBA Lenders in Illinois:
Most active SBA lenders in Illinois
| IL Rank | Illinois Bank | Bank HQs | # of IL Loans | Avg Interest | Avg Illinois Loan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Huntington National Bank | Columbus, OH | 357 | 5.6% | $202,189 |
| 2 | U.S. Bank | Cincinnati, OH | 188 | 5.7% | $191,607 |
| 3 | Byline Bank | Chicago, IL | 94 | 5.9% | $1,177,968 |
| 4 | United Midwest Savings Bank | De Graff, OH | 50 | 5.9% | $254,200 |
| 5 | Live Oak | Wilmington, NC | 43 | 5.3% | $1,398,235 |
| 6 | Newtek Small Business Finance | Lake Success, NY | 35 | 6.1% | $735,371 |
| 7 | First American Bank | Elk Grove Village, IL | 34 | 4.4% | $756,679 |
| 8 | Millennium Bank | Des Plaines, IL | 31 | 5.0% | $1,812,939 |
| 9 | JPMorgan Chase Bank | Columbus, OH | 30 | 5.6% | $261,970 |
| 10 | Harvest Small Business Finance | Laguna Hills, CA | 28 | 5.8% | $857,011 |
| 11 | Merchants Bank of Indiana | Carmel, IN | 27 | 5.3% | $1,295,233 |
| 12 | Bank of America | Charlotte, NC | 27 | 3.4% | $392,230 |
| 13 | Busey Bank | Champaign, IL | 22 | 5.5% | $1,149,373 |
| 14 | CenTrust Bank | Northbrook, IL | 20 | 6.0% | $917,915 |
| 15 | PNC Bank | Wilmington, DE | 19 | 5.3% | $557,395 |
SBA loans – Illinois
A note about these Illinois SBA lenders – People frequently ask us if one of the banks above is 1) on the Illinois preferred lender list 2) an approved lender in Illinois, or 3) participating in the Illinois SBA Express lending program. All these questions revolve around whether a given SBA bank makes small business SBA loans in Illinois and can they process SBA loans quickly. The answer is yes, of course. These are not the small banks that only make a few SBA loans a year and do not understand the SBA 7(a) loan program. These are the banks that have made the most SBA loans in Illinois and in Chicago.
We analyze thousands of SBA loans each year and rank lenders based on recent activity. We would be remiss if we did not mention that although many banks will only lend in certain geographies, there are a handful of extremely aggressive nationwide SBA lenders who will lend anywhere. These lenders understand the SBA program as well as anyone and move very quickly, so we recommend not limiting your search to your home state. If you utilize our lender match tool, we can find you suitable SBA banks based on your geography, industry, and company and size at no cost or obligation to you to save you valuable time.