Truliant Federal Credit Union
At a Glance
Worth a conversation if a Preferred Lender with a named acquisition practice fits your deal, and the membership step does not put you off; the average loan in our file suggests it is comfortable at real acquisition size.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products; no fee to engage. SBA 7(a) up to the $5M program cap with low down payments per its own page. Our FOIA computation shows 105 change-of-ownership 7(a) loans totaling $147.8M in FY2025, an average near $1.4M, at a 10.37% average initial rate across its acquisition loans in the file.
- Best For
- Buyers who want a Preferred Lender where acquisition financing is a named focus, and who are comfortable joining a member-owned institution to borrow from it
- In the Federal File
- 105 change-of-ownership loans in FY2025, 7th most in the country, averaging $1.4M each, at an average initial rate of 10.37%. Computed from the SBA's own loan-level data, not from anything the lender publishes.
- Type
- Credit union (lends directly; borrowing starts with membership)
- Footprint
- North Carolina based, with its releases claiming the top credit-union SBA book in the country. It publishes a region rather than a state list, so ask on the first call whether it lends where you are buying.
- Deal Size
- $500k to $5M.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, branch-driven.
- Published Terms
- 7(a) to the $5M cap as a Preferred Lender, with change-of-ownership deals a named use.
- Roadmap Stages
- 2. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Preferred Lender Program status, so it approves on delegated authority rather than waiting on the agency
- Acquisition lending is named, not buried: change-of-ownership uses on the program page and a dedicated SBA acquisition financing guide
- The nation's top SBA originator among credit unions by loan count, per its own 2024 and 2025 releases
- Our FOIA computation places it among the twenty most active acquisition lenders in the country, averaging about $1.4M per change-of-ownership loan in FY2025
Cons
- A credit union, so borrowing starts with membership; check eligibility early rather than at term-sheet time
- The application runs through a business services officer or a local branch, not a built-for-remote national desk
- Rates are quoted per deal and not published, and the acquisition loans in our file price on the variable side
What Searchers Say
Its own releases in 2024 and 2025 claim the top SBA origination count among the nation's credit unions, and our FOIA computation independently places it among the twenty most active acquisition lenders in the country in FY2025. It markets to its region rather than to the searcher community, so it is rarely named in search-fund circles.
How to Approach
Truliant Federal Credit Union is a credit union, so this is how that kind of lender comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- Membership first: joining is a same-week step, but it is a step, so start it before you need terms.
- A business services officer walks the application, then the credit union underwrites directly.
- A term sheet, then closing on the SBA's timeline, commonly two to four months.
What It Weighs
- The same coverage math a bank runs, since the SBA's rules are the SBA's rules.
- Whether you and the deal sit inside its field of membership and lending footprint.
- Your equity injection and how the relationship banks after close.
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.