# Live Oak Bank vs Byline Bank

Which searcher-dedicated SBA bank leads your term-sheet list?

## Choose Live Oak Bank

Choose Live Oak for scale and pattern recognition: the largest 7(a) dollars in the country, office hours for acquisition buyers in the $1M to $12M range, and combination structures that carry a purchase past the 7(a) cap.

## Choose Byline Bank

Choose Byline for the searcher-first posture: a dedicated self-funded-search page, quoted rate ranges, up to 90% financing, and published term-sheet and closing timelines you can hold them to.

## Side by side

| | Live Oak Bank | Byline Bank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What It Is | The SBA's #1 7(a) lender by dollar volume. It writes 7(a) loans up to the $5M program cap and combination 7(a) plus conventional structures that carry a purchase past it, and runs weekly office hours for buyers targeting $1M to $12M businesses, with a 60-day average funding timeline named on its acquisition page. | A Chicago-based SBA Preferred Lender with a dedicated self-funded search acquisition practice: up to 90% financing, SBA 7(a) to $5M with conventional debt layered above it, and published targets of 24 to 48 hours to a term sheet and roughly 50 days to close. |
| Category | SBA & Acquisition Lenders | SBA & Acquisition Lenders |
| Pricing Model | Custom Pricing | Custom Pricing |
| What It Costs | Loan products (no fee to engage). SBA 7(a) up to $5M, with combination structures that carry a larger purchase past the cap and are sized to the deal; free weekly M&A office hours for buyers targeting $1M–$12M businesses. | Loan products; no fee to engage. Its searcher page quotes rates of 2% to 2.75% over prime depending on structure, up to 90% financing, no prepayment penalty on non-real-estate loans, and nationwide coverage (per bylinebank.com, August 2026). |
| Best For | Buyers of $1M+ businesses who want the most experienced SBA acquisition lender in their corner from day one | Self-funded searchers who want a bank that names them as the customer, publishes its timelines, and can stack conventional debt above the 7(a) cap for bigger deals |
| Where It Fits | Set Up & Fund the Search, Diligence & Close the Deal | Set Up & Fund the Search, Diligence & Close the Deal |
| Our Verdict | Start your lender conversations here, then still get a second term sheet elsewhere. | Put it on the term-sheet shortlist next to Live Oak; a dedicated searcher practice with published timelines is exactly what you want to see from a bank. |

Full review of Live Oak Bank: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/live-oak-bank
Full review of Byline Bank: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/byline-bank

Source: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/compare/live-oak-bank-vs-byline-bank
Last checked: 2026-09-04

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