If you are shopping an SBA 7(a) or conventional commercial loan in Georgia, 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 Georgia-headquartered banks doing the most commercial lending right now, using public Q2 2026 FFIEC call-report data. It is the open-book version of what the paid report does with far more inputs.
Atlanta anchors one of the deepest community-banking benches in the Southeast, a legacy of a state that once chartered banks by the hundreds.
The 13 most active commercial lenders in Georgia
Ranked by commercial and industrial (C&I) loans outstanding, Q2 2026. Bank names link to the live BankingLens scorecard.
| # | Bank | City | Assets | C&I share | ROA | Fit notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ameris Bank | Atlanta | $28.4B | 17.5% | 1.23% | Large multi-state regional, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. Top sectors funded in GA: Accommodation/Food Service (14 loans), Retail Trade (6 loans) |
| 2 | Georgia Banking Company | Atlanta | $3.3B | 14.9% | 1.02% | Regional commercial bank, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 15% YoY. Top sectors funded in GA: Accommodation/Food Service (15 loans), Other Services (8 loans) |
| 3 | Thomasville National Bank | Thomasville | $2.2B | 14.9% | 2.38% | Community bank, a steady commercial book. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 12% YoY. |
| 4 | Primesouth Bank | Blackshear | $1.6B | 10.1% | 1.92% | Local commercial lender, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 16% YoY. Top sectors funded in GA: Accommodation/Food Service (7 loans), Health Care (4 loans) |
| 5 | Citizens Trust Bank | Atlanta | $790M | 27.0% | 1.57% | Small community bank, an active C&I book. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Top sectors funded in GA: Transportation & Warehousing (1 loan), Health Care (1 loan) |
| 6 | Farmers & Merchants Bank | Lakeland | $862M | 11.8% | 1.63% | Small local lender, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. |
| 7 | First State Bank | Wrens | $513M | 15.0% | 1.84% | Small community bank, a steady commercial book. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. |
| 8 | First Century Bank | Commerce | $832M | 40.2% | 1.61% | Small local lender, heavy C&I concentration. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 50% YoY. |
| 9 | FNB South | Alma | $735M | 10.6% | 2.63% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 12% YoY. |
| 10 | Bank of Dudley | Dudley | $538M | 12.1% | 0.98% | Small local lender, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 18% YoY. |
| 11 | Sunmark Community Bank | Perry | $557M | 10.6% | 2.89% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 41% YoY. |
| 12 | Citizens Bank of Americus | Americus | $511M | 14.4% | 1.58% | Small local lender, a steady commercial book. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 9% YoY. |
| 13 | First National Bank of Coffee County | Douglas | $547M | 10.7% | 1.43% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 13% YoY. |
Assets and ratios are Q2 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 Georgia-HQ lenders, Q2 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 Georgia. Second, a capacity floor: we dropped every Georgia-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, 13 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 13. 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.
Smaller banks may also fund your loan but rank below the active list.
The SBA section below ranks separately: it counts the SBA 7(a) and 504 loans each lender actually made in Georgia, from SBA's own loan data, whatever state the lender is based in.
This table is an honest, simplified proxy. The call report does not show a bank's SBA volume or its appetite for your industry; the SBA section shows volume, but not which lender fits your deal. 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.
Most active SBA lenders in Georgia
The lenders that made the most SBA 7(a) and 504 loans to Georgia businesses, federal fiscal year 2023 through June 30, 2026, counted from SBA's own loan-level data. National SBA platforms appear next to Georgia's own banks because they lend here too.
523 SBA loans in Georgia, $230.4M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Health Care.
390 SBA loans in Georgia, $137.6M in total. Most often: Professional Services, Other Services.
320 SBA loans in Georgia, $108.5M in total. Most often: Professional Services, Other Services.
295 SBA loans in Georgia, $39.5M in total. Most often: Transportation & Warehousing, Construction.
230 SBA loans in Georgia, $30.3M in total. Most often: Transportation & Warehousing, Professional Services.
229 SBA loans in Georgia, $41.5M in total. Most often: Professional Services, Construction.
218 SBA loans in Georgia, $289.3M in total. Most often: Health Care, Other Services.
182 SBA loans in Georgia, $91.1M in total. Most often: Professional Services, Health Care.
173 SBA loans in Georgia, $66.2M in total. Most often: Health Care, Professional Services.
156 SBA loans in Georgia, $41.2M in total. Most often: Construction, Administrative & Support.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration 7(a) and 504 loan data, refreshed monthly. Ranked by number of loans. Lenders that have since merged count toward the bank that acquired them.
What Georgia looks like for a borrower
Atlanta anchors one of the deepest community-banking benches in the Southeast, a legacy of a state that once chartered banks by the hundreds.
On the numbers: Georgia's 119 headquartered banks carry $92.7B in assets between them, the largest being Ameris Bank of Atlanta at $28.4B. 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 Atlanta skyline by Lance Asper on Unsplash, used here as a regional editorial image for Georgia.