If you are shopping an SBA 7(a) or conventional commercial loan in Maine, 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 Maine-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.
Maine's banking map is short and old, a few savings-bank descendants and community lenders covering a rural state most national banks never bothered to enter.
The 15 most active commercial lenders in Maine
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 National Bank | Damariscotta | $3.2B | 16.2% | 1.22% | Mid-size regional, a steady commercial book. |
| 2 | Bangor Savings Bank | Bangor | $7.7B | 6.3% | 0.37% | Regional commercial bank, a modest C&I share. Top sectors funded in ME: Accommodation/Food Service (53 loans), Construction (27 loans) |
| 3 | Camden National Bank | Camden | $6.9B | 6.2% | 1.35% | Mid-size regional, a modest C&I share. Top sectors funded in ME: Retail Trade (3 loans), Accommodation/Food Service (2 loans) |
| 4 | Machias Savings Bank | Machias | $2.7B | 13.4% | 0.98% | Local commercial lender, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. Top sectors funded in ME: Accommodation/Food Service (10 loans), Other Services (7 loans) |
| 5 | Bar Harbor Bank and Trust Company | Bar Harbor | $4.7B | 7.3% | 1.42% | Mid-size regional, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 15% YoY. Top sectors funded in ME: Administrative & Support (9 loans), Health Care (4 loans) |
| 6 | Northeast Bank | Lewiston | $5.2B | 5.4% | 2.52% | Regional commercial bank, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 21% YoY. |
| 7 | Maine Community Bank | Portland | $3.0B | 9.0% | 1.16% | Community bank, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 9% YoY. |
| 8 | Katahdin Trust Company | Patten | $1.2B | 17.2% | 0.89% | Local commercial lender, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 10% YoY. |
| 9 | Androscoggin Savings Bank | Lewiston | $1.8B | 8.9% | 0.67% | Community bank, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. |
| 10 | Norway Savings Bank | Norway | $2.2B | 7.2% | 1.27% | Local commercial lender, a modest C&I share. Loan book up 11% YoY. |
| 11 | Kennebunk Savings Bank | Kennebunk | $2.2B | 5.7% | 0.88% | Community bank, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 15% YoY. |
| 12 | Kennebec Savings Bank | Augusta | $1.9B | 6.0% | 1.36% | Local commercial lender, a modest C&I share. |
| 13 | Bath Savings Institution | Bath | $1.5B | 7.4% | 0.74% | Community bank, a modest C&I share. |
| 14 | Skowhegan Savings Bank | Skowhegan | $855M | 8.7% | 1.58% | Small local lender, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. |
| 15 | Franklin Savings Bank | Farmington | $787M | 6.9% | 0.98% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. |
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 Maine-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 Maine. Second, a capacity floor: we dropped every Maine-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 loosened the usual 10 percent C&I cutoff to 5 percent here, because Maine has a shallow commercial-banking bench and a stricter filter would leave too short a list (a bank that is 90 percent home mortgages is not your SBA lender, regardless of size). Of the banks clearing both floors, 15 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.
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 Maine, 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 Maine
The lenders that made the most SBA 7(a) and 504 loans to Maine businesses, federal fiscal year 2023 through June 30, 2026, counted from SBA's own loan-level data. National SBA platforms appear next to Maine's own banks because they lend here too.
246 SBA loans in Maine, $26.6M in total. Most often: Construction, Administrative & Support.
191 SBA loans in Maine, $44.9M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Construction.
173 SBA loans in Maine, $68.7M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Other Services.
70 SBA loans in Maine, $7.4M in total. Most often: Construction, Other Services.
54 SBA loans in Maine, $33.4M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Other Services.
52 SBA loans in Maine, $19.7M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Arts & Recreation.
51 SBA loans in Maine, $13.9M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Health Care.
41 SBA loans in Maine, $3.9M in total. Most often: Construction, Accommodation/Food Service.
40 SBA loans in Maine, $12.6M in total. Most often: Agriculture, Transportation & Warehousing.
39 SBA loans in Maine, $19.4M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Retail Trade.
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 Maine looks like for a borrower
Maine's banking map is short and old, a few savings-bank descendants and community lenders covering a rural state most national banks never bothered to enter.
On the numbers: Maine's 22 headquartered banks carry $49.0B in assets between them, the largest being Bangor Savings Bank of Bangor at $7.7B. The median bank keeps 7.1% 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 Boston skyline by jacob Licht on Unsplash, used here as a regional editorial image for Maine.