If you are shopping an SBA 7(a) or conventional commercial loan in California, the bank you call first matters more than most borrowers think. A lender that already writes a lot of commercial credit and sits in your state is structurally likelier to say yes than a national name passing through. This page ranks the California-headquartered banks doing the most commercial lending right now, using public Q1 2026 FFIEC call-report data. It is the open-book version of what the paid report does with far more inputs.
California's headquartered banks skew either very large or very specialized, which leaves a surprisingly thin middle for an ordinary Main Street borrower to shop.
The 15 most active commercial lenders in California
Ranked by commercial and industrial (C&I) loans outstanding, Q1 2026. Bank names link to the live BankingLens scorecard.
| # | Bank | City | Assets | C&I share | ROA | Fit notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | City National Bank | Los Angeles | $99.9B | 15.7% | 0.74% | National-scale lender, a steady commercial book. Loan book up 9% YoY. Top sectors funded in CA: Professional Services (44 loans), Wholesale Trade (32 loans) |
| 2 | East West Bank | Pasadena | $82.5B | 17.4% | 1.78% | Coast-to-coast balance sheet, a steady commercial book. Top-decile returns. Top sectors funded in CA: Retail Trade (51 loans), Accommodation/Food Service (44 loans) |
| 3 | Banc of California | Los Angeles | $34.6B | 12.8% | 0.93% | Large multi-state regional, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. Top sectors funded in CA: Other Services (4 loans), Real Estate (4 loans) |
| 4 | Cathay Bank | Los Angeles | $24.0B | 14.5% | 1.53% | Large regional lender, a steady commercial book. Top-decile returns. Top sectors funded in CA: Retail Trade (21 loans), Wholesale Trade (10 loans) |
| 5 | Axos Bank | San Diego | $28.2B | 11.3% | 2.18% | Large multi-state regional, a modest C&I share. Top-decile returns. Loan book up 25% YoY. |
| 6 | Bank of Hope | Los Angeles | $18.7B | 18.2% | 0.70% | Large regional lender, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 10% YoY. |
| 7 | Preferred Bank | Los Angeles | $7.7B | 25.8% | 1.63% | Mid-size regional, an active C&I book. Top-decile returns. |
| 8 | Smbc Manubank | Los Angeles | $7.7B | 34.6% | -6.85% | Regional commercial bank, heavy C&I concentration. Thin current returns. Loan book down 100% YoY. |
| 9 | Hanmi Bank | Los Angeles | $7.8B | 19.8% | 1.25% | Mid-size regional, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 10 | Avidbank | San Jose | $2.6B | 44.8% | 1.48% | Local commercial lender, heavy C&I concentration. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 18% YoY. |
| 11 | Ctbc Bank Corp. (USA) | Los Angeles | $5.4B | 19.3% | 0.93% | Mid-size regional, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 12 | American Business Bank | Los Angeles | $4.4B | 19.8% | 1.45% | Regional commercial bank, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 9% YoY. |
| 13 | California Bank of Commerce | San Diego | $4.0B | 18.5% | 1.42% | Mid-size regional, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 14 | State Bank of India (california) | Los Angeles | $1.4B | 42.8% | 1.35% | Local commercial lender, heavy C&I concentration. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 9% YoY. |
| 15 | Calprivate Bank | La Jolla | $2.7B | 22.1% | 1.91% | Community bank, an active C&I book. Top-decile returns. |
Assets and ratios are Q1 2026 FFIEC call-report figures. ROA is annualized return on assets. A bank's headquarters city is shown; many lend statewide and beyond.
C&I lending muscle, ranked
Commercial and industrial loans outstanding for the top 10 California-HQ lenders, Q1 2026. This is the single number our ranking leans on hardest.
How we ranked these
Four steps, all of them transparent. First, we took every bank headquartered in California. Second, a capacity floor: we dropped every California-headquartered bank under $500M in total assets, because a smaller balance sheet rarely anchors a primary SBA 7(a) relationship. Third, an active-originator floor: we kept only banks whose commercial and industrial (C&I) loans are at least 10 percent of the loan book (a bank that is 90 percent home mortgages is not your SBA lender, regardless of size). Of the banks clearing both floors, 32 made the active list. Fourth, we ranked them by C&I loan dollars outstanding, which already blends balance-sheet size with how committed a bank is to commercial credit, and kept the top 15. Where the call report reports it, the fit notes also flag year-over-year loan-book growth as a rough read on whether a bank is leaning into lending or pulling back; the FFIEC filing does not break out SBA or C&I growth on its own, so treat that as directional, not precise.
Active originator floor applied: state-HQ banks with $500M+ assets and 10%+ C&I share. Smaller banks may also fund your loan but rank below the active list.
The national SBA specialists section ranks separately because they lend across all states, not just California.
This is an honest, simplified proxy. It does not see a bank's actual SBA 7(a) origination volume (that lives in SBA FOIA data, not the call report), its appetite for your industry, or whether it funded forty SBA loans last quarter or zero. The $49 Borrower Assist report folds all of that in and ranks against your specific deal, not just your state. That is the part worth paying for.
National SBA specialists worth knowing
These banks are not headquartered in California but actively lend to California borrowers via SBA 7(a). They run nationwide 7(a) platforms and routinely out-originate any single state's home-grown banks on 7(a) volume, so they belong on your call list even though they sit outside the state ranking above.
The largest SBA 7(a) lender in the country by dollar volume, built from the ground up around small-business lending nationwide.
A perennial top-five SBA 7(a) originator running a technology-first small-business lending platform across all 50 states.
One of the most active SBA 7(a) lenders by loan count, with a national footprint and a deep small-loan program.
A leading SBA 7(a) lender whose government-guaranteed lending group writes across the Midwest and well beyond.
Consistently among the highest-volume SBA 7(a) lenders by number of loans, with a long-running small-business franchise.
Listed separately because they lend across all states, not just California. Ordering reflects national SBA 7(a) prominence, not a California-specific ranking, and these names are not scored against the call-report table above.
What California looks like for a borrower
California's headquartered banks skew either very large or very specialized, which leaves a surprisingly thin middle for an ordinary Main Street borrower to shop.
On the numbers: California's 122 headquartered banks carry $571.5B in assets between them, the largest being City National Bank of Los Angeles at $99.9B. The median bank keeps 8.0% of its loan book in C&I credit, which is the pool the table below ranks.
None of that tells you which of these banks will fund your specific deal. A $400,000 restaurant acquisition and a $4M owner-occupied warehouse purchase have different optimal lender lists even in the same state, and the ranking above does not split by loan size, industry, or collateral. Treat it as your starting shortlist, not your final answer.
How to use this list
- Start with the bank near you that has the strongest commercial profile, not just the closest branch. A lender with a real C&I book understands your deal faster.
- Ask for the SBA or commercial lending group directly. The general line routes business deals slowly.
- Have a one-page summary ready: use of funds, cash flow, collateral, owner credit, timeline. Banks decide whether to engage in the first ninety seconds.
- Run two banks in parallel, not five. Two real conversations close a loan; five waste everyone's time.
Hero photo: The San Francisco skyline by Joshua Sortino on Unsplash, used here as a regional editorial image for California.