If you are shopping an SBA 7(a) or conventional commercial loan in South Dakota, 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 South Dakota-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.
South Dakota's friendly charter rules drew big card banks to Sioux Falls, but everyday commercial lending still runs through farm-country community banks.
The 13 most active commercial lenders in South Dakota
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 | Wells Fargo | Sioux Falls | $1.91T | 20.1% | 1.37% | National-scale lender, an active C&I book. Loan book up 12% YoY. Top sectors funded in SD: Retail Trade (4 loans), Transportation & Warehousing (3 loans) |
| 2 | Citibank | Sioux Falls | $1.98T | 21.9% | 1.06% | Coast-to-coast balance sheet, an active C&I book. Loan book up 9% YoY. |
| 3 | Pathward | Sioux Falls | $7.3B | 92.0% | 2.77% | Mid-size regional, heavy C&I concentration. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 9% YoY. Top sectors funded in SD: Other Services (1 loan) |
| 4 | Dacotah Bank | Aberdeen | $4.9B | 26.4% | 1.09% | Regional commercial bank, an active C&I book. Loan book up 8% YoY. Top sectors funded in SD: Construction (3 loans), Health Care (3 loans) |
| 5 | First Bank & Trust | Brookings | $4.8B | 23.7% | 1.32% | Mid-size regional, an active C&I book. Top sectors funded in SD: Accommodation/Food Service (16 loans), Retail Trade (10 loans) |
| 6 | The Bancorp Bank National Association | Sioux Falls | $9.2B | 10.9% | 3.00% | Regional commercial bank, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. |
| 7 | First Dakota National Bank | Yankton | $3.4B | 12.5% | 1.68% | Mid-size regional, a steady commercial book. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 12% YoY. |
| 8 | The First National Bank in Sioux Falls | Sioux Falls | $2.1B | 18.8% | 1.15% | Local commercial lender, a steady commercial book. Loan book up 10% YoY. |
| 9 | American Bank & Trust | Sioux Falls | $2.2B | 17.3% | 1.35% | Community bank, a steady commercial book. |
| 10 | Cortrust Bank | Mitchell | $1.6B | 17.0% | 0.39% | Local commercial lender, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 11 | First National Bank | Fort Pierre | $2.0B | 10.6% | 2.50% | Community bank, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 14% YoY. |
| 12 | Pioneer Bank & Trust | Belle Fourche | $1.0B | 20.1% | 1.48% | Local commercial lender, an active C&I book. |
| 13 | Reliabank Dakota | Estelline | $788M | 20.6% | 1.36% | Small community bank, an active C&I book. Loan book up 12% 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 South Dakota-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 South Dakota. Second, a capacity floor: we dropped every South Dakota-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 South Dakota, 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 South Dakota
The lenders that made the most SBA 7(a) and 504 loans to South Dakota businesses, federal fiscal year 2023 through June 30, 2026, counted from SBA's own loan-level data. National SBA platforms appear next to South Dakota's own banks because they lend here too.
74 SBA loans in South Dakota, $27.7M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Construction.
72 SBA loans in South Dakota, $60.1M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Retail Trade.
62 SBA loans in South Dakota, $20.0M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Retail Trade.
44 SBA loans in South Dakota, $7.7M in total. Most often: Construction, Other Services.
39 SBA loans in South Dakota, $22.0M in total. Most often: Other Services, Accommodation/Food Service.
27 SBA loans in South Dakota, $18.4M in total. Most often: Other Services, Health Care.
23 SBA loans in South Dakota, $1.0M in total. Most often: Construction, Transportation & Warehousing.
22 SBA loans in South Dakota, $61.5M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Manufacturing.
18 SBA loans in South Dakota, $15.4M in total. Most often: Agriculture, Accommodation/Food Service.
16 SBA loans in South Dakota, $2.5M in total. Most often: Health Care, 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 South Dakota looks like for a borrower
South Dakota's friendly charter rules drew big card banks to Sioux Falls, but everyday commercial lending still runs through farm-country community banks.
On the numbers: South Dakota's 56 headquartered banks carry $3.94T in assets between them, the largest being Citibank of Sioux Falls at $1.98T. The median bank keeps 10.6% 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: Midwestern farm country by Pieter van de Sande on Unsplash, used here as a regional editorial image for South Dakota.