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Lender · SBA 7(a) record

Northwest Bank

PA · lends in 35 states · 2,027 SBA loans since 2010, 757 in the last five years.

Practical minimum
$25k
5th percentile, last 5 years
Typical loan
$207k
median, last 5 years
Median rate
P+2.44
variable-rate loans only
Typical term
10 yr
Recent volume
$463.3M
last 5 fiscal years

How fast they approve. Northwest Bank made 54% of its recent SBA 7(a) loans under Preferred Lender (PLP) authority — it can approve them in-house without sending your file to the SBA to re-underwrite, which is the biggest single driver of how fast a loan closes. Why approval speed comes down to the lender.

Will they talk to you?

loan sizes funded
Under $150k
42%
$150k – $350k
19%
$350k – $750k
17%
$750k – $2M
14%
Over $2M
8%

The spread of loan sizes tells you where this lender is comfortable. Ask for something far outside it and expect friction.

Do they fund businesses like yours?

last 5 years
Full-Service Restaurants
6%
Limited-Service Restaurants
6%
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
3%
Landscaping Services
2%
General Freight Trucking, Local
2%
Everything else
80%

A lender who already knows your industry asks better questions and closes faster. One who doesn't will treat your file as an education.

Lends conservatively

0.88% charged off against 2.11% across all SBA lending. Clean books usually mean tight credit standards. Good rates if you fit their box, and a quick decline if you don't.

What rate people got

median markup over prime

The median borrower here paid prime + 2.44%. Compare that against what you have been quoted — the markup is the negotiable part, and most borrowers never try.

Work out what that costs you →

Their loans, year by year

cumulative % of dollars charged off
ApprovedYr 1Yr 2Yr 3Yr 4Yr 5Yr 6Yr 7Yr 8Yr 9Yr 10
20100.00.62.62.62.65.05.55.55.55.5
20110.00.01.23.33.33.33.33.33.33.3
20120.00.00.91.01.01.62.32.32.32.3
20130.00.00.00.00.30.30.30.30.30.3
20140.00.00.50.50.51.11.11.11.11.6
20150.00.00.00.10.80.80.80.80.80.8
20160.00.00.00.00.01.21.21.21.2·
20170.00.00.00.32.22.23.03.0··
20180.00.20.20.20.40.40.4···
20190.00.00.00.00.10.1····
20200.00.00.00.00.0·····
20210.00.00.00.0······
20220.00.00.0·······
20230.00.0········
20240.0·········
2025··········
2026··········
0%
12%+▨ too recent to know

Each row is one year's lending. Read down a column to compare years at the same age — that is the only fair comparison, because losses take three to five years to appear and a fast-growing lender always looks clean on a raw average.

Source SBA 7(a) FOIAReleased 2026-06-30 Loans judged 1,153 Measured at 5 years

What this page cannot tell you

Federal records show what was approved, not how long it took, how the bank communicated, or whether your loan officer returned calls. Ask any lender directly: are you a preferred lender, how many deals like mine did you close last year, and who underwrites it.

Check your eligibility first → Decode what they say to you →

Lenders worth comparing against this one

Picked for writing loans of a similar size in similar places.

Common questions

Does Northwest Bank make SBA startup and acquisition loans?

Yes — its recent SBA 7(a) record includes 182 business acquisitions, 157 startups, 62 commercial real-estate loans, 58 franchise loans. If your deal is one of these, it has funded that kind of loan many times before. See how it ranks for your exact deal.

What is the smallest SBA loan Northwest Bank will make?

Its practical minimum — the 5th percentile of what it has actually funded — is about $25,000, and the typical (median) Northwest Bank loan is $207,000. If your loan is well below its practical minimum, it is unlikely to be interested however strong your file.

What interest rate do Northwest Bank SBA borrowers get?

On variable-rate loans, recent Northwest Bank borrowers paid a median of prime + 2.44%. The markup over prime is the negotiable part of any SBA quote. Check a rate you have been quoted.

What states does Northwest Bank lend in?

Most of Northwest Bank's recent SBA lending is concentrated in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, among 20 states in total. Compare lenders by state.