A 7(a) loan of $500,000 or less that only a lender with SBA Express authority can make, on its own credit decision, with a 50 percent SBA guaranty.
An SBA Express loan is $500,000 or less and is decided only under the lender’s own delegated authority. SBA does not review the lender’s credit analysis before it issues a loan number, and an Express lender may not ask SBA to process an Express loan itself. The credit decision, including how to treat a past bankruptcy or whether to require an equity injection, is left to the lender’s judgment.
The guaranty is 50 percent. On a $400,000 Express loan the guaranteed portion is $200,000 and the lender keeps $200,000, against $300,000 and $100,000 on a 75 percent loan. The lender may use its own forms and collateral policies, and a loan of $50,000 or less needs no collateral.
Express allows a line of credit. A line may not exceed 10 years including its term-out, the term-out must be at least as long as the draw period, and no advance may follow the first 60 months. For fiscal year 2027 the one-time SBA fee is $0 on Express loans to veteran-owned businesses.
How it shows up in the data here
In the SBA file, ProcessingMethod SBX is SBA Express and EXP is Export Express. A lender page shows its count of SBA Express loans under Loan channel and SBA processing, when the record has it, and the lender search can filter for lenders with any. The file does not show whether a lender holds Express authority today.
Go further
- Lenders with SBA Express loans: Lenders that made any Express loans in the 36-month window.
- SBA 7(a) payment calculator: Monthly payment with the FY2027 upfront guaranty fee, with the fee paid in cash or added to the loan.
- SBA Preferred Lenders Program and Express: how they differ: Some SBA lenders decide a loan on their own authority and some send it to SBA first. The difference changes who reads your file and who carries the risk.
- SBA 7(a) loan package checklist: A 7(a) package is the bank's usual file plus SBA's own list. Know which items SBA requires and you can have them ready before the first call.
Related terms
- 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.
- SBA 7(a) Small loan: A 7(a) term loan of $350,000 or less. The lender may use its own forms and credit memo for much of the file, and the debt service coverage floor is 1.10 to 1.
- Preferred Lenders Program (PLP): A status SBA gives some 7(a) lenders to decide eligibility and credit on their own authority, with SBA reviewing a loan only at purchase or oversight.
- Delegated authority (SBA lending): Authority SBA grants a lender to make its own eligibility and credit decision before SBA issues a loan number: PLP and SBA Express for 7(a), ALP and PCLP for 504.
- SBA guaranty percentage: The share of a 7(a) loan that SBA guarantees to the lender: up to 85 percent of a loan of $150,000 or less, up to 75 percent of a larger loan, and 50 percent on SBA Express.
Sources
Plain definitions for orientation, not legal, tax or credit advice. A lender's own policy decides what it will do.