A credit union's business-purpose loan to one of its own members. The total of these loans is capped by federal law; loans to non-members are counted separately.
Federal law defines a member business loan as a loan, line of credit or letter of credit whose proceeds go to a commercial, corporate, business investment property, venture or agricultural purpose. Several things are left out: credit fully secured by a 1- to 4-family dwelling, credit fully secured by shares or deposits, credit fully backed by a federal or state agency, and a borrower whose business credit at the credit union totals less than $50,000.
NCUA’s rule uses a wider term, commercial loan, for underwriting, and keeps member business loan for the cap. The two differ at the edges. A loan to a non-member, or an interest in another lender’s loan bought as a non-member participation, is a commercial loan but not a member business loan.
Two points matter to a borrower. You join the credit union before it lends to you. And a credit union near its cap may have little room for a new loan however strong the file is, so ask early how much room it has. An SBA guaranteed loan helps here, because the portion the agency backs is taken out of the net balance.
How it shows up in the data here
The 5300 fields on this site report commercial loans, not member business loans as the cap defines them. Each credit union row shows commercial loans made in the first half of 2026 (granted or purchased) and loans outstanding; see credit union commercial loans made. Non-member loans and participations held are a separate figure. The net member business loan balance used for the cap is not carried here.
Go further
- Credit union commercial loans made: Ranked by commercial loans granted or purchased in the first half of 2026.
- Credit union business lenders: Credit unions that made commercial loans, by state.
- How to place a business loan with a credit union: Credit unions make business loans, and some make a lot of them. Three things are different from a bank: the borrower must be a member, most credit unions work under a cap on business loans, and the limit to one borrower is set against net worth.
- How to read a credit union's 5300 call report: Credit unions file their own call report, NCUA Form 5300, every quarter. For commercial loans it says more than a bank's report does: it counts the loans, and it reports what was made during the year.
- A credit union lender's guide to working with brokers: Brokers bring loans a credit union would not otherwise see. Taking them well means four checks before credit: can the borrower join, is there room under the cap, is the loan inside the limit to one borrower, and who pays the broker.
Related terms
- Member business loan cap: The legal ceiling on a credit union's member business loans: 1.75 times its net worth, or 1.75 times the net worth a well capitalized credit union must hold, if that is less.
- Credit union: A member-owned cooperative lender. It lends to the people and businesses inside its field of membership and files a call report with NCUA every quarter.
- Credit union single borrower limit: The most a credit union may lend in commercial loans to one borrower or group of associated borrowers: the greater of 15 percent of its net worth or $100,000.
- Low-income designation: An NCUA status for a federal credit union when a majority of its members are low-income by the rule's test. It lifts the cap on member business loans.
- Loan participation: A loan in which other lenders buy shares from the lender that made it, under a written agreement that keeps the first lender in the loan for its whole life.
- SBA 7(a) loan: SBA's main business loan program. A lender makes the loan and SBA guarantees part of it: up to 85 percent of $150,000 or less and 75 percent of more, on loans up to $5,000,000.
Sources
Plain definitions for orientation, not legal, tax or credit advice. A lender's own policy decides what it will do.