If you are shopping an SBA 7(a) or conventional commercial loan in Virginia, 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 Virginia-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.
Virginia's commercial banks straddle the federal-contracting north and a rural south, two economies that ask very different things of a lender.
The 15 most active commercial lenders in Virginia
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 | HSBC Bank USA | Tysons | $173.1B | 38.6% | 0.97% | National-scale lender, heavy C&I concentration. Built for commercial deals. |
| 2 | Atlantic Union Bank | Richmond | $38.0B | 19.6% | 1.61% | Large regional lender, a steady commercial book. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Top sectors funded in VA: Other Services (11 loans), Health Care (9 loans) |
| 3 | United Bank | Fairfax | $33.6B | 10.1% | 1.56% | Large multi-state regional, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Top sectors funded in VA: Accommodation/Food Service (1 loan), Other Services (1 loan) |
| 4 | Townebank | Portsmouth | $22.6B | 10.9% | 2.21% | Large regional lender, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 22% YoY. Top sectors funded in VA: Other Services (14 loans), Accommodation/Food Service (11 loans) |
| 5 | Primis Bank | Tappahannock | $4.3B | 15.6% | 1.03% | Mid-size regional, a steady commercial book. Loan book up 11% YoY. Top sectors funded in VA: Other Services (4 loans), Construction (3 loans) |
| 6 | Fvcbank | Fairfax | $2.4B | 24.5% | 1.37% | Local commercial lender, an active C&I book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 7 | Blue Ridge Bank | Martinsville | $2.3B | 14.4% | 0.01% | Community bank, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 8 | Virginia National Bank | Charlottesville | $1.6B | 20.8% | 1.86% | Local commercial lender, an active C&I book. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. |
| 9 | Old Dominion National Bank | North Garden | $1.8B | 18.4% | 0.77% | Community bank, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 8% YoY. |
| 10 | Chesapeake Bank | Kilmarnock | $1.7B | 21.0% | 1.79% | Local commercial lender, an active C&I book. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. Loan book up 19% YoY. |
| 11 | Bank of Clarke | Berryville | $1.8B | 14.2% | 1.01% | Community bank, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 12 | The Freedom Bank of Virginia | Fairfax | $1.0B | 22.9% | 0.45% | Local commercial lender, an active C&I book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 13 | Trustar Bank | Great Falls | $1.1B | 13.0% | 0.65% | Community bank, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 17% YoY. |
| 14 | First National Bank | Altavista | $1.1B | 11.8% | 1.75% | Local commercial lender, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. |
| 15 | Trupoint Bank | Grundy | $691M | 17.1% | 1.13% | Small community bank, a steady commercial book. Loan book up 50% 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 Virginia-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 Virginia. Second, a capacity floor: we dropped every Virginia-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, 16 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 national SBA specialists section ranks separately because they lend across all states, not just Virginia.
This is an honest, simplified proxy. It does not see a bank's actual SBA 7(a) origination volume (that lives in SBA FOIA data, not the call report), its appetite for your industry, or whether it funded forty SBA loans last quarter or zero. 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.
National SBA specialists worth knowing
These banks are not headquartered in Virginia but actively lend to Virginia borrowers via SBA 7(a). They run nationwide 7(a) platforms and routinely out-originate any single state's home-grown banks on 7(a) volume, so they belong on your call list even though they sit outside the state ranking above.
The largest SBA 7(a) lender in the country by dollar volume, built from the ground up around small-business lending nationwide.
A perennial top-five SBA 7(a) originator running a technology-first small-business lending platform across all 50 states.
One of the most active SBA 7(a) lenders by loan count, with a national footprint and a deep small-loan program.
A leading SBA 7(a) lender whose government-guaranteed lending group writes across the Midwest and well beyond.
Consistently among the highest-volume SBA 7(a) lenders by number of loans, with a long-running small-business franchise.
Listed separately because they lend across all states, not just Virginia. Ordering reflects national SBA 7(a) prominence, not a Virginia-specific ranking, and these names are not scored against the call-report table above.
What Virginia looks like for a borrower
Virginia's commercial banks straddle the federal-contracting north and a rural south, two economies that ask very different things of a lender.
The state's banking base totals $1.00T in assets across 57 charters, topped by Capital One (Mc Lean) at $662.2B. Commercial appetite varies widely; the median Virginia bank runs a 7.9% C&I share, and HSBC Bank USA leads on raw C&I dollars ($21.3B).
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: Downtown Atlanta by Joey Kyber on Unsplash, used here as a regional editorial image for Virginia.