If you are shopping an SBA 7(a) or conventional commercial loan in Washington, 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 Washington-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.
Washington's commercial credit clusters around Seattle trade and tech, with a regional-bank field that thinned out after the last cycle's wave of consolidations.
The 13 most active commercial lenders in Washington
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 | Wafd Bank | Seattle | $27.6B | 10.9% | 0.99% | Large multi-state regional, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. Top sectors funded in WA: Construction (15 loans), Transportation & Warehousing (9 loans) |
| 2 | Washington Trust Bank | Spokane | $10.5B | 19.5% | 1.19% | Large regional lender, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. Top sectors funded in WA: Construction (41 loans), Health Care (29 loans) |
| 3 | Banner Bank | Walla Walla | $16.6B | 9.1% | 1.31% | Large multi-state regional, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. Top sectors funded in WA: Construction (113 loans), Accommodation/Food Service (45 loans) |
| 4 | Heritage Bank | Olympia | $8.4B | 13.0% | 1.09% | Regional commercial bank, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 20% YoY. Top sectors funded in WA: Manufacturing (24 loans), Accommodation/Food Service (23 loans) |
| 5 | 1st Security Bank of Washington | Mountlake Terrace | $3.2B | 7.8% | 1.09% | Mid-size regional, a modest C&I share. Top sectors funded in WA: Manufacturing (6 loans), Other Services (5 loans) |
| 6 | Cashmere Valley Bank | Cashmere | $2.3B | 14.1% | 1.10% | Local commercial lender, a steady commercial book. |
| 7 | Commencement Bank | Tacoma | $740M | 22.5% | 0.98% | Small community bank, an active C&I book. CRE-heavy book. Loan book up 9% YoY. |
| 8 | Riverview Bank | Vancouver | $1.5B | 11.4% | -0.76% | Local commercial lender, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. |
| 9 | Timberland Bank | Hoquiam | $2.1B | 7.8% | 1.48% | Community bank, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. |
| 10 | Peoples Bank | Bellingham | $2.4B | 5.6% | 0.97% | Local commercial lender, a modest C&I share. CRE-heavy book. |
| 11 | Mountain Pacific Bank | Everett | $896M | 9.6% | 1.50% | Small community bank, a modest C&I share. Return on assets above 1.5 percent. |
| 12 | Seattle Bank | Seattle | $891M | 9.1% | 1.01% | Small local lender, a modest C&I share. Loan book down 17% YoY. |
| 13 | Baker Boyer National Bank | Walla Walla | $693M | 12.4% | 0.57% | Small community bank, a steady commercial 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 Washington-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 Washington. Second, a capacity floor: we dropped every Washington-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 Washington 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, 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 Washington, 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 Washington
The lenders that made the most SBA 7(a) and 504 loans to Washington businesses, federal fiscal year 2023 through June 30, 2026, counted from SBA's own loan-level data. National SBA platforms appear next to Washington's own banks because they lend here too.
765 SBA loans in Washington, $120.0M in total. Most often: Construction, Professional Services.
519 SBA loans in Washington, $172.0M in total. Most often: Construction, Accommodation/Food Service.
464 SBA loans in Washington, $177.4M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Other Services.
422 SBA loans in Washington, $103.5M in total. Most often: Construction, Accommodation/Food Service.
250 SBA loans in Washington, $143.9M in total. Most often: Construction, Health Care.
235 SBA loans in Washington, $251.9M in total. Most often: Retail Trade, Accommodation/Food Service.
184 SBA loans in Washington, $31.6M in total. Most often: Construction, Accommodation/Food Service.
180 SBA loans in Washington, $79.4M in total. Most often: Accommodation/Food Service, Construction.
175 SBA loans in Washington, $26.0M in total. Most often: Construction, Health Care.
159 SBA loans in Washington, $110.3M in total. Most often: Manufacturing, Accommodation/Food Service.
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 Washington looks like for a borrower
Washington's commercial credit clusters around Seattle trade and tech, with a regional-bank field that thinned out after the last cycle's wave of consolidations.
On the numbers: Washington's 29 headquartered banks carry $91.3B in assets between them, the largest being Wafd Bank of Seattle at $27.6B. The median bank keeps 9.1% 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 Seattle skyline by Thom Milkovic on Unsplash, used here as a regional editorial image for Washington.