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Rockland Trust (SBA lending) vs Eastern Bank (SBA lending)

Side by Side

AttributeRockland TrustEastern Bank
What It IsMassachusetts' leading change-of-ownership desk in our file, ahead of even Live Oak's national machine inside the state: a Preferred Lender whose page lays out the 504, 7(a), and Express programs in a table with maximums, names business purchases among 7(a) uses, underwrites Express in-house, and introduces its business team by name.New England's most-decorated SBA desk: number one in Massachusetts by total 7(a) count seventeen years running by its own newsroom, a Preferred Lender since 2001, with the entire rate and fee schedule published by loan size. The schedule is the program's ceiling, the uses list never names business acquisition, and our file counts a 62-loan change-of-ownership book anyway.
CategorySBA & Acquisition LendersSBA & Acquisition Lenders
Pricing ModelCustom PricingCustom Pricing
What It CostsLoan products; no fee to engage. The page publishes a program table rather than a rate sheet: 504 to $5.5 million with as little as 10% down on most owner-occupied real estate, 7(a) to $5 million naming business purchases among uses with terms to 10 years on non-real-estate, Express to $500,000 underwritten in-house for faster approval, and bands of capped rates and reduced down payments. Our FOIA computation makes it Massachusetts' leading change-of-ownership lender with 112 loans across the file's six years, ahead of Live Oak's 87 in the state.Loan products; no fee to engage. The 7(a) page publishes what almost nobody does, a complete schedule by loan size: Prime plus 6.5% to $50,000, plus 6% to $250,000, plus 4.5% to $350,000, plus 3% above that, fixed or variable, with the guarantee-fee tiers beside it, zero on loans to $1 million. Read it knowing the schedule matches the program's maximum allowable spreads, so the candor is about the ceiling rather than a discount; the shelf's published-quote desks show what beating the ceiling looks like. Our FOIA computation places it third in Massachusetts with 51 and second in Rhode Island with 11 change-of-ownership loans across the file's six years; its own banner, number one SBA lender in Massachusetts seventeen years running, is a total-count claim built mostly on smaller loans.
Best ForBuyers of Massachusetts businesses who want the state's most active acquisition desk, with named bankers to call rather than a queueNew England buyers who want the region's most practiced SBA operation with the whole fee mechanics in writing, and will negotiate down from the ceiling the page states
Where It FitsSet Up & Fund the Search, Diligence & Close the DealSet Up & Fund the Search, Diligence & Close the Deal
Our VerdictThe rare state champion that beats the national specialist on its home field: for a Massachusetts target this is the first meeting to book, program maximums already in hand from the page, with a published-terms quote alongside because the rates themselves stay banded.The desk that shows you the whole machine, every spread and every fee tier on the page. Read the schedule for what it is, the program's ceiling, and negotiate from it; the file says the acquisition practice is there even though the uses list never mentions it.
Pros
  • Massachusetts' leading change-of-ownership lender in our file, ahead of Live Oak's national desk inside the state
  • A program table with real maximums and the 10% down figure for owner-occupied 504 deals, more than most relationship banks publish
  • Express loans underwritten in-house for faster approval, in its own words
  • Publishes the complete rate and guarantee-fee schedule by loan size on the page, candor almost no bank matches
  • A Preferred Lender since 2001, and number one in Massachusetts by total 7(a) count seventeen years running by its own newsroom
  • Third in Massachusetts's and second in Rhode Island's change-of-ownership top fives in our file, so the acquisition practice is real
Cons
  • Rates come as bands, capped and reduced, not figures
  • A Massachusetts-centric footprint through the sole bank subsidiary of a public holding company; reach beyond New England is a question for the banker
  • Branch-relationship banking rather than a built-for-remote process
  • The published schedule is the program's maximum allowable spreads, a ceiling rather than a quote; treat it as the number to negotiate down from
  • The 7(a) page's uses list never names business acquisition, so lead the first call by asking for the acquisition desk
  • The seventeen-year number-one banner is total loan count, mostly smaller loans; the acquisition book ranks third in its home state in our file

Our take

Choose Rockland Trust when the deal is the point: the state's deepest change-of-ownership book in our file, more acquisition loans at home than the national specialist, and a published program table that states the 504's 10% down figure rather than gesturing at flexibility.

Choose Eastern for the region's most practiced SBA operation and the whole fee machine in writing: seventeen straight years as the state's top 7(a) lender by total count, with every spread and guarantee-fee tier published. Read the rate card as the program's ceiling and negotiate down from it; its acquisition book runs third in the state.

Put It to Work

Whichever side wins for you, Lender Match filters the verified lenders by your deal size and structure.