First Financial Bank (SBA lending)
At a Glance
If the deal sits in its four states, this is the first rate call to make: the cheapest average book in our file with the injection floor already in writing, so the negotiation starts where other banks end.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products; no fee to engage. Its page publishes what most desks keep vague: 7(a) to $5M, fixed and variable, fully amortized with no balloon payments, ten-year terms on business acquisition, and an equity injection of at least 10% of total project cost on change-of-ownership transactions. Our FOIA computation shows 71 change-of-ownership loans totaling $96.2M in FY2025, averaging near $1.35M at a 6.91% average initial rate, the cheapest in the file's twenty most active, across 358 such loans in six years.
- Best For
- Buyers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas who want the file's cheapest average pricing and a published injection floor instead of a negotiation
- In the Federal File
- 71 change-of-ownership loans in FY2025, 18th most in the country, averaging $1.4M each, at an average initial rate of 6.91%. Computed from the SBA's own loan-level data, not from anything the lender publishes.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- The El Dorado, Arkansas charter, leading Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas acquisition top-fives in our file.
- Deal Size
- $500k to $5M.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, branch-driven.
- Published Terms
- 7(a) to $5M, fully amortized, no balloons; the 10% injection floor published outright.
- Roadmap Stages
- 2. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Pros and Cons
Pros
- The cheapest average initial rate in our FOIA file's twenty most active acquisition lenders, at 6.91%
- Publishes the 10% change-of-ownership equity injection on its own page, which most desks leave to the term sheet
- Leads four states' acquisition top-fives in our file, at a $1.35M average that says it works real deals
- A preferred lender: delegated authority, fully amortized loans, no balloons, in its own words
Cons
- A four-state footprint in practice; a buyer elsewhere is shopping a different desk
- Branch-relationship banking rather than a built-for-remote process
- No searcher-community footprint to weigh against its own claims
What Searchers Say
The terms are its own page's, unusually complete for the category; our FOIA computation independently makes it the cheapest average book among the twenty most active, leading Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas top-fives. Not to be confused with the Ohio and Texas banks of the same name; the FOIA rows behind our figures are this charter's.
How to Approach
First Financial Bank (SBA lending) 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
Put It to Work
Lender Match puts this lender beside the others, filtered by your deal.