Last annual update:
A lot of Ohio-based banks were among the largest lenders to “The Buckeye State” businesses through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 7(a) program. Whether your business is a hotel, restaurant, auto repair, medical practice, veterinary or pharmacy, 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 Ohio:
Most active SBA lenders in Ohio
| OH Rank | Ohio Bank | Bank HQs | # of OH Loans | Avg Interest | Avg Ohio Loan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Huntington National Bank | Columbus, OH | 2,103 | 5.5% | $172,002 |
| 2 | U.S. Bank | Cincinnati, OH | 178 | 6.2% | $150,637 |
| 3 | KeyBank | Cleveland, OH | 130 | 5.6% | $474,745 |
| 4 | Telhio CU Inc | Columbus, OH | 80 | 5.6% | $333,503 |
| 5 | United Midwest Savings Bank | De Graff, OH | 70 | 5.9% | $363,617 |
| 6 | First Commonwealth Bank | Indiana, PA | 60 | 5.4% | $698,000 |
| 7 | Peoples Bank | Marietta, OH | 59 | 5.6% | $513,166 |
| 8 | Live Oak | Wilmington, NC | 51 | 5.2% | $1,462,412 |
| 9 | Consumers National Bank | Minerva, OH | 46 | 4.6% | $416,233 |
| 10 | First Financial Bank | Cincinnati, OH | 45 | 4.6% | $395,624 |
| 11 | Fifth Third Bank | Cincinnati, OH | 44 | 5.0% | $574,134 |
| 12 | Heartland Bank | Whitehall, OH | 40 | 5.4% | $302,260 |
| 13 | Premier Bank | Youngstown, OH | 34 | 4.8% | $890,585 |
| 14 | The Community Bank | Zanesville, OH | 33 | 5.3% | $70,803 |
| 15 | Newtek Small Business Finance | Lake Success, NY | 32 | 6.2% | $619,972 |
SBA loans – Ohio
A note about these Ohio SBA lenders – People frequently ask us if one of the banks above is 1) on the Ohio preferred lender list 2) an approved lender in Ohio, or 3) participating in the Ohio SBA Express lending program. All these questions revolve around whether a given SBA bank makes small business SBA loans in Ohio 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 Ohio, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus.
We analyze thousands of SBA loans each year and rank lenders based on recent activity. We would be remissed 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.