If you are shopping an SBA 7(a) or conventional commercial loan in Hawaii, 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 Hawaii-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.
Hawaii runs on a tight roster of island banks, and with so few charters, each one's appetite shapes a disproportionate slice of the local market.
The 5 most active commercial lenders in Hawaii
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 | First Hawaiian Bank | Honolulu | $23.6B | 13.6% | 1.25% | Large multi-state regional, a steady commercial book. Top sectors funded in HI: Accommodation/Food Service (4 loans), Construction (3 loans) |
| 2 | Bank of Hawaii | Honolulu | $23.8B | 5.4% | 1.03% | Large regional lender, a modest C&I share. Top sectors funded in HI: Retail Trade (2 loans), Health Care (2 loans) |
| 3 | American Savings Bank | Honolulu | $9.0B | 9.5% | 1.24% | Mid-size regional, a modest C&I share. Top sectors funded in HI: Health Care (1 loan) |
| 4 | Central Pacific Bank | Honolulu | $7.5B | 10.5% | 1.21% | Regional commercial bank, a modest C&I share. Top sectors funded in HI: Accommodation/Food Service (75 loans), Construction (65 loans) |
| 5 | Hawaii National Bank | Honolulu | $872M | 22.5% | 0.86% | Small community bank, an active C&I book. Top sectors funded in HI: Accommodation/Food Service (4 loans), Transportation & Warehousing (2 loans) |
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 5 Hawaii-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 Hawaii. Second, a capacity floor: we dropped every Hawaii-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: Hawaii has so few dedicated commercial banks that we dropped the C&I threshold entirely and ranked every qualifying bank with any C&I lending on its books (a bank that is 90 percent home mortgages is not your SBA lender, regardless of size). Of the banks clearing both floors, 5 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 5. 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 Hawaii, 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 Hawaii
The lenders that made the most SBA 7(a) and 504 loans to Hawaii businesses, federal fiscal year 2023 through June 30, 2026, counted from SBA's own loan-level data. National SBA platforms appear next to Hawaii's own banks because they lend here too.
309 SBA loans in Hawaii, $27.8M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Construction.
34 SBA loans in Hawaii, $22.1M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Health Care.
32 SBA loans in Hawaii, $5.9M in total. Most often: Construction, Other Services.
30 SBA loans in Hawaii, $4.1M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Administrative & Support.
28 SBA loans in Hawaii, $3.6M in total. Most often: Retail Trade, Wholesale Trade.
20 SBA loans in Hawaii, $8.4M in total. Most often: Other Services, Retail Trade.
18 SBA loans in Hawaii, $15.3M in total. Most often: Professional Services, Transportation & Warehousing.
15 SBA loans in Hawaii, $5.2M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Construction.
15 SBA loans in Hawaii, $4.2M in total. Most often: Retail Trade, Administrative & Support.
9 SBA loans in Hawaii, $8.5M in total. Most often: Administrative & Support, Arts & Recreation.
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 Hawaii looks like for a borrower
Hawaii runs on a tight roster of island banks, and with so few charters, each one's appetite shapes a disproportionate slice of the local market.
Across 6 Hawaii-headquartered banks sits $65.6B in total assets, anchored by Bank of Hawaii in Honolulu at $23.8B. Half the state's lenders hold more than 10.0% of their loans in C&I, half less; the ranking below pulls the most commercial-heavy to the top.
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: A San Francisco street at dawn by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash, used here as a regional editorial image for Hawaii.