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Lender · SBA 7(a) record

Pinnacle Bank

TN · lends in 34 states · 3,191 SBA loans since 2010, 822 in the last five years.

Practical minimum
$150k
5th percentile, last 5 years
Typical loan
$754k
median, last 5 years
Median rate
P+1.91
variable-rate loans only
Typical term
10 yr
Recent volume
$1.02B
last 5 fiscal years

How fast they approve. Pinnacle Bank made 87% 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.

What stands out about Pinnacle Bank

vs every other SBA lender

It leans into one industry. 9% of Pinnacle Bank's loans go to assisted living facilities for the elderly — roughly 22× the share you would expect, so it clearly knows that business.

Pinnacle Bank writes big loans. Its median loan is $754k — against about $347k for the typical SBA lender. This is a lender for sizeable deals, not small working-capital requests.

This read is built from 822 funded 7(a) loans over the last five fiscal years.

Will they talk to you?

loan sizes funded
Under $150k
6%
$150k – $350k
16%
$350k – $750k
28%
$750k – $2M
32%
Over $2M
19%

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
Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly
6%
Full-Service Restaurants
5%
Limited-Service Restaurants
4%
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
4%
All Other Specialty Trade Contractors
2%
Everything else
78%

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

0.80% 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 + 1.91%. 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
20100.00.30.50.62.04.95.05.05.05.0
20110.00.00.00.21.21.61.71.71.71.9
20120.00.00.00.21.21.61.62.64.64.6
20130.00.00.20.20.20.30.51.14.84.8
20140.00.00.00.00.00.21.21.32.52.7
20150.00.00.01.72.02.12.32.42.42.4
20160.00.00.30.31.01.01.31.61.8·
20170.00.00.00.20.61.02.23.0··
20180.00.00.10.20.31.02.2···
20190.00.00.00.40.40.4····
20200.00.00.00.01.0·····
20210.00.00.30.9······
20220.00.00.7·······
20230.00.9········
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 2,042 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 Pinnacle Bank make SBA startup and acquisition loans?

Yes — its recent SBA 7(a) record includes 205 commercial real-estate loans, 198 startups, 195 business acquisitions, 148 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 Pinnacle Bank will make?

Its practical minimum — the 5th percentile of what it has actually funded — is about $150,000, and the typical (median) Pinnacle Bank loan is $754,500. If your loan is well below its practical minimum, it is unlikely to be interested however strong your file.

What interest rate do Pinnacle Bank SBA borrowers get?

On variable-rate loans, recent Pinnacle Bank borrowers paid a median of prime + 1.91%. The markup over prime is the negotiable part of any SBA quote. Check a rate you have been quoted.

What states does Pinnacle Bank lend in?

Most of Pinnacle Bank's recent SBA lending is concentrated in North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, among 20 states in total. Compare lenders by state.