Centier Bank
At a Glance
A family-owned Indiana Preferred Lender whose product page says grow and expand and whose own lender's article says acquisitions and buyouts; read the article before the call.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products; terms by term sheet. Its SBA page publishes an Express line to $500,000, up to ninety percent bank financing on the 7(a), no prepayment penalty under fifteen years and no balloon, and no rate; its commercial page publishes conventional loans from $1 million to $115 million and beyond (per centier.com, September 2026).
- Best For
- A buyer of an Indiana business who wants a family-owned Preferred Lender with a named SBA specialist, and who reads the bank's articles for the use its product page leaves out
- Track Record
- The largest private family-owned bank in Indiana by its own page, a Preferred Lender ranking itself in the top three of preferred lenders on one page and the top ten percent nationally on another.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- Indiana by its own pages, the largest private family-owned bank in the state, with no lending area published as such. It lends beyond the states it names, so one it does not name is worth asking about rather than ruling out.
- Approval Authority
- Says it holds SBA Preferred Lender status, so it can approve the loan itself rather than sending the file to the agency for a second look.
- Deal Size
- $500k to $5M.
- Publishes no floor. Most of this shelf gives a ceiling that is really the agency's own cap, and no minimum at all.
- No floor or ceiling for the 7(a) on any page; its SBA page prints an Express line up to $500,000 and its commercial page a conventional range from $1 million.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, branch-driven.
- Its SBA page offers a callback form that it says is not an application, with local decision-making by experienced SBA specialists; no online application and no phone for the desk.
- No page names a search fund or a searcher; no product page names buying a business, and two articles linked from its SBA page list buying or acquiring a business, and acquisitions and partner buyouts, among what its SBA desk has financed.
- Published Terms
- Express lines to $500,000. On the 7(a), up to ninety percent bank financing, no prepayment penalty under fifteen years and no balloon; no rate or fee published.
- Roadmap Stages
- 5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Pros and Cons
Pros
- A Preferred Lender that ranks itself in the top three of preferred lenders on one page and the top ten percent nationally on another, under its own footnote
- Names an SBA relationship specialist on its SBA page and says lending decisions are made locally
- Its own SBA lender's article lists acquisitions and partner buyouts among what the desk has financed
- Publishes up to ninety percent bank financing on the 7(a) and no prepayment penalty under fifteen years
Cons
- No product page names buying a business; the use lives in two articles linked from the SBA page
- Publishes no 7(a) size and no rate, and its two ranking claims share one undated footnote
- Indiana only by its own pages, with a callback form and no phone for the SBA desk
- Names no search fund, searcher or acquisition entrepreneur
What Searchers Say
Read on its SBA page, its loans and lines page, its team page, its commercial lending pages, its about page and the two SBA articles its SBA page links. No searcher-forum discussion of the desk was found.
How to Approach
Centier Bank is a bank, so this is how that kind of lender comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A prequalification on you and the target, often from the first email.
- A full application and the bank's own underwrite of the deal.
- A term sheet, then closing on the SBA's timeline, commonly two to four months.
What It Weighs
- Whether the business's cash flow covers the debt with room to spare.
- Your experience relative to the business you are buying.
- Your equity injection and how clean the financials are.
How to Prepare
- Model the payment and coverage before you call. SBA Acquisition Calculator
- Underwrite the specific deal end to end. Underwrite a Deal
- Show where every dollar comes from and goes. Sources & Uses Builder