If you are shopping an SBA 7(a) or conventional commercial loan in New Hampshire, 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 New Hampshire-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.
New Hampshire runs a lean bank roster, a few community lenders serving a no-income-tax economy that keeps pulling small business across the Massachusetts line.
The 11 most active commercial lenders in New Hampshire
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 | Primary Bank | Bedford | $770M | 20.7% | 1.75% | Small community bank, an active C&I book. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 8% YoY. Top sectors funded in NH: Manufacturing (10 loans), Other Services (8 loans) |
| 2 | Merrimack County Savings Bank | Concord | $1.4B | 9.0% | 0.47% | Local commercial lender, a modest C&I share. Top sectors funded in NH: Accommodation/Food Service (15 loans), Construction (10 loans) |
| 3 | Mascoma Bank | Lebanon | $3.0B | 4.1% | 0.50% | Mid-size regional, a modest C&I share. Top sectors funded in NH: Educational Services (2 loans), Manufacturing (1 loan) |
| 4 | Bank of New Hampshire | Laconia | $2.8B | 2.5% | 1.00% | Local commercial lender, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. Top sectors funded in NH: Accommodation/Food Service (8 loans), Construction (6 loans) |
| 5 | Bank of New England | Salem | $1.8B | 2.9% | 2.18% | Community bank, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. |
| 6 | Savings Bank of Walpole | Walpole | $858M | 6.6% | 0.85% | Small local lender, a modest C&I share. |
| 7 | Claremont Savings Bank | Claremont | $620M | 8.4% | 0.35% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. |
| 8 | Meredith Village Savings Bank | Meredith | $1.6B | 2.7% | 0.56% | Local commercial lender, a modest C&I share. |
| 9 | Franklin Savings Bank | Franklin | $931M | 4.9% | 1.09% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. |
| 10 | First Seacoast Bank | Dover | $576M | 6.4% | -0.09% | Small local lender, a modest C&I share. Thin current returns. |
| 11 | Salem Co-operative Bank | Salem | $580M | 3.2% | 0.25% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. Thin current returns. |
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 New Hampshire-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 New Hampshire. Second, a capacity floor: we dropped every New Hampshire-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: New Hampshire 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, 11 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 11. 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 New Hampshire, 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 New Hampshire
The lenders that made the most SBA 7(a) and 504 loans to New Hampshire businesses, federal fiscal year 2023 through June 30, 2026, counted from SBA's own loan-level data. National SBA platforms appear next to New Hampshire's own banks because they lend here too.
447 SBA loans in New Hampshire, $54.9M in total. Most often: Construction, Other Services.
125 SBA loans in New Hampshire, $13.7M in total. Most often: Construction, Retail Trade.
110 SBA loans in New Hampshire, $14.9M in total. Most often: Construction, Accommodation/Food Service.
78 SBA loans in New Hampshire, $34.5M in total. Most often: Manufacturing, Other Services.
77 SBA loans in New Hampshire, $13.4M in total. Most often: Administrative & Support, Retail Trade.
68 SBA loans in New Hampshire, $7.8M in total. Most often: Construction, Retail Trade.
67 SBA loans in New Hampshire, $15.7M in total. Most often: Construction, Retail Trade.
66 SBA loans in New Hampshire, $13.5M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Construction.
60 SBA loans in New Hampshire, $14.6M in total. Most often: Retail Trade, Manufacturing.
58 SBA loans in New Hampshire, $35.1M in total. Most often: Manufacturing, Other Services.
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 New Hampshire looks like for a borrower
New Hampshire runs a lean bank roster, a few community lenders serving a no-income-tax economy that keeps pulling small business across the Massachusetts line.
On the numbers: New Hampshire's 15 headquartered banks carry $16.3B in assets between them, the largest being Mascoma Bank of Lebanon at $3.0B. The median bank keeps 6.4% 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 New Hampshire.