Open Bank (SBA lending)
At a Glance
The strongest of the community desks reviewed today: a cheap, deep, big-check book with structures shown in public, so the first conversation starts from an example instead of a promise. If the deal sits near its branches, this is the quote to make the published-terms desks beat.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products; no fee to engage. The page publishes no rate sheet but something rarer: a dozen worked 7(a) examples with dollar figures and structures, 90% of purchase price financed in several and 100% in one on vested equity, to the $5M program maximum. Our FOIA computation shows 68 change-of-ownership loans totaling $125.7M in FY2025 at a $1.85M average, 380 such loans across six years, and a 7.80% average initial rate, seventh cheapest among the twenty-five most active.
- Best For
- Buyers in California, Texas, Nevada, or Washington with larger deals who want a desk that shows its structures before the first meeting
- In the Federal File
- 68 change-of-ownership loans in FY2025, 18th most in the country, averaging $1.8M each, at an average initial rate of 7.8%. Computed from the SBA's own loan-level data, not from anything the lender publishes.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- Twelve branches across California, Texas, and Nevada, with Washington loan production offices, per its holding company's profile.
- Deal Size
- $500k to $5M.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, branch-driven.
- Published Terms
- No rate sheet, but worked 7(a) examples with real figures: 90% of purchase price financed repeatedly, to the $5M maximum.
- Roadmap Stages
- 2. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Worked deal examples with real dollar figures on its own page, which is rarer than a rate sheet in this category
- The seventh-cheapest average initial rate among our file's twenty-five most active, at 7.80%
- A $1.85M FY2025 average and a 380-loan six-year book: big checks from a desk that has been doing this for years
- Names itself an SBA National Small Business Lender of the Year, and the volume in our file is consistent with a flagship desk
Cons
- Twelve branches in three states plus two Washington loan offices; the relationship model thins beyond them
- No published rates or terms despite the worked examples; the structure you see is not a quote
- The worked examples lean real-estate-heavy, so a goodwill-heavy business purchase should ask to see its shape early
- No searcher-community footprint to weigh against its own claims
What Searchers Say
The examples and the Lender of the Year claim are its own page's; the footprint is its holding company's investor profile verbatim: twelve branches across Los Angeles, Orange, and Santa Clara Counties in California, Carrollton in Texas, and Las Vegas in Nevada, plus loan production offices in Lynnwood and Bellevue, Washington. Operating since 2005, renamed Open Bank in 2010. Our FOIA computation independently prices the book seventh cheapest of the twenty-five most active.
How to Approach
Open 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.