SBA Express loans
A loan or line of credit of up to $500,000 from a bank or other lender with SBA Express authority. The lender decides under its own procedures and the SBA guarantees half, so there is less SBA paperwork than a standard 7(a) loan, but the same rate caps and the same rules on who can borrow.
- Personal guarantee likely
- Secured on assets
How it works
SBA Express is part of the SBA's 7(a) program. The SBA does not lend the money: it guarantees 50% of a loan made by a lender that has SBA Express authority. In return for the lower guarantee, the lender uses its own forms, credit analysis and collateral rules, the same ones it uses for its other loans of a similar size, and makes the decision without the SBA reviewing it first.
- Amount: up to $500,000, counting every SBA Express loan the business and its affiliates already have.
- Term loan or line of credit: both are allowed. A revolving line can last up to 10 years in all, including the period when you repay it, and no new draws are allowed after 60 months. Term loans follow the usual 7(a) limits: up to 10 years for working capital and most equipment, and up to 25 years for real estate.
- Uses: the usual 7(a) uses, such as working capital, equipment, refinancing business debt and buying a business.
- Interest: agreed with the lender, but a variable rate cannot go above a base rate (such as the prime rate) plus 6.5 percentage points for $50,000 or less, 6 points up to $250,000, 4.5 points up to $350,000 and 3 points above that. The lender can charge a higher rate if you default, as it does on its other loans.
- Fees: the lender pays the SBA an upfront guaranty fee and may pass it on to you: at most 2% of the guaranteed half for loans of $150,000 or less, and 3% for larger ones. The SBA can set lower fees for a year. The fee is waived for businesses owned and controlled by a veteran, a service-disabled veteran, a service member in the military's Transition Assistance Program, or the spouse or surviving spouse of one.
Collateral and guarantees: the SBA does not require collateral for loans of $50,000 or less. Above that, the lender follows its own collateral policy, but must not turn a loan down only because collateral is short. Owners of 20% or more must personally guarantee the loan, as with any 7(a) loan.
Who can borrow: the same rules as other 7(a) loans, from the SBA's rulebook (SOP 50 10 8.1, in force from October 1, 2026): a for-profit small business in the US whose owners and guarantors are all US citizens or US nationals living in the US, and which cannot get the credit on reasonable terms without the SBA's help. The lender decides how much a past bankruptcy matters and whether you must put in money of your own. A lender can close and pay out the loan before it has checked your tax returns with the IRS, but it must check them afterwards.
Larger loans, or a business a lender will not take on under its own procedures, go through a standard SBA 7(a) loan instead.
Upsides and downsides
Upsides
- Less SBA paperwork than a standard 7(a) loan; the lender uses its own forms and decides without SBA review
- Can be a revolving line of credit as well as a term loan
- The SBA caps the interest rate and the guaranty fee, and the fee is waived for veteran-owned businesses
- Loans of $50,000 or less need no collateral under SBA rules
Downsides
- Up to $500,000 only
- Owners of 20% or more must guarantee the loan personally
- Only for businesses that cannot get the credit on reasonable terms elsewhere
- Not open to a business with any owner or guarantor who is not a US citizen or US national, including green card holders
- With only half the loan guaranteed, a lender may be stricter than on a 7(a) loan with a larger guarantee
Risks
- If the business cannot repay, the lender can pursue the guarantors' personal assets
- The lender can raise the rate if you default
- With a variable rate, payments rise when the base rate rises
What it costs
- How it is priced
- Interest set by the lender, capped by the SBA at a base rate such as prime plus 3 to 6.5 percentage points depending on loan size
- Costs that are easy to miss
- An upfront guaranty fee of up to 3% of the guaranteed half, often passed on to you (waived for veteran-owned businesses)
- A higher rate if you default, set by the lender
- The lender's own fees and costs, as on its other business loans
Including every other SBA Express loan the business and its affiliates already have. The SBA guarantees 50%.
Have a quote? True cost of a loan: work out the APR and total cost
Applying to an SBA program? Is my business small?: check whether your business counts as small
Does it fit?
Could fit when
- A bank has turned you down for $500,000 or less
- You need up to $500,000 for working capital, equipment, growth or refinancing, as a loan or a line of credit
Unlikely to fit when
- The business grows, makes, processes, distributes or sells marijuana or marijuana products, for medical or recreational use, even where the state allows it
- The business earns much of its revenue from gambling, adult content, or political or lobbying work (the SBA's limits are more than a third, more than 5% and more than half of revenue)
- You need more than $500,000
- The owners will not give personal guarantees (owners of 20% or more must)
- You need the money within days
- Any owner or guarantor is not a US citizen or US national living in the US
Who can use it
- Business types: Sole proprietorship, Partnership, LLC, S corporation, C corporation, Benefit corporation, Cooperative
- An operating business, run for profit, located in the US, that is small under the SBA's size standards
- It cannot get the credit it needs on reasonable terms without the SBA's help
- Every owner, direct or indirect, and every guarantor is a US citizen or US national living in the US
- Every owner of 20% or more personally guarantees the loan
- A lender with SBA Express authority willing to lend under its own procedures
Not available for: Nonprofits; Businesses mainly engaged in lending, such as banks, finance companies and factors; Passive businesses owned by developers and landlords; Businesses earning more than a third of their revenue from legal gambling; Any activity that is illegal under federal, state or local law; Businesses mainly engaged in political or lobbying activities; Speculative businesses; Businesses that grow, make, process, distribute or sell marijuana or marijuana products, for medical or recreational use, even where the state allows it.
Am I ready?
What a provider is likely to ask for. Tick what you have. Your ticks stay in this browser and nothing is stored. Checklist for all government-backed and community lending
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- SBA Form 1919
- Financial statements
- Business and personal tax returns
Regulation and protections
Regulators: U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA); Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Who runs it: Federal program.
SBA rules cap the interest rate and guaranty fee and set the longest term. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B) covers business credit: if your business had sales of $1 million or less last year, the lender must tell you its decision within 30 days of a complete application and, if it turns you down, give you the reasons or tell you how to ask for them.
Federal Truth in Lending rules (Regulation Z) do not cover business loans, so federal law does not require the lender to show you an annual percentage rate. Ask for the rate, fees and total cost in writing.
Types of provider: Banks, credit unions and other lenders with SBA Express authority.
SBA 7(a) lenders that lend across the country: 12 examples in the directory · chosen from an official list by a stated rule, never for payment
Also consider
What has changed
- Marijuana businesses, medical or recreational, are listed as not eligible even where the state allows them (SOP 50 10 8.1), and the fit finder now says so.
Sources
- SBA: SOP 50 10 8.1, Lender and Development Company Loan Programs (effective October 1, 2026): Section B, Chapter 2, and Appendices 16 to 19 · checked October 20, 2026
- SBA: Types of 7(a) loans (SBA Express) · checked October 20, 2026
- SBA: 7(a) loans · checked October 20, 2026
- 13 CFR 120.110: businesses that are ineligible for SBA business loans · checked October 17, 2026
- 12 CFR 1002.9 (Regulation B): notifications, including to business credit applicants · checked October 17, 2026
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