The one-time fee a 7(a) lender pays SBA for its guaranty, set by loan size and charged on the guaranteed portion. The lender may pass it on to the borrower.
The fee is charged on the guaranteed portion of the loan, not the whole loan, and the loan size sets the rate. For loans with an approval date from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027 (fiscal year 2027):
- Loans of $150,000 or less: 2 percent of the guaranteed portion. The lender may keep up to a quarter of it.
- $150,001 to $700,000: 3 percent.
- $700,001 to $5,000,000: 3.5 percent of the guaranteed portion up to $1,000,000, plus 3.75 percent of the guaranteed portion above that.
- Loans with a maturity of 12 months or less: 0.25 percent.
- No fee at all on loans of $700,000 or less to manufacturers, to businesses in the food supply chain codes SBA lists, and to businesses in a rural area.
Two examples. A $500,000 loan with a 75 percent guaranty has a guaranteed portion of $375,000, so the fee is 3 percent of $375,000, or $11,250. A $2,000,000 loan at 75 percent has a guaranteed portion of $1,500,000, so the fee is $35,000 on the first $1,000,000 plus $18,750 on the other $500,000, or $53,750.
Loans to the same business and its affiliates with approval dates within 90 days of each other are treated as one loan for the fee, whichever lenders made them. A borrower may pay the fee out of loan proceeds, but the first disbursement may not be made mainly to pay it.
How it shows up in the data here
Not in any public file. The SBA files give the gross approval and the SBA guaranteed amount, so you can work out the fee a loan would have carried under a year's schedule, but they do not say who paid it or whether it was waived. The 7(a) payment calculator applies the FY2027 schedule to your numbers.
Go further
- SBA 7(a) payment calculator: Payment and fee for your loan, with the fee paid in cash or added to the loan.
- SBA 7(a) lenders by loans made
- How to read SBA 7(a) and 504 loan data: The SBA publishes the 7(a) and 504 loans it guarantees, lender by lender, every quarter. It is the best public record of who lends to small businesses, and it is easy to misread.
Related terms
- Annual service fee (SBA lender's fee): A yearly fee a 7(a) lender pays SBA on the outstanding balance of the guaranteed portion of each loan. On a 7(a) loan the lender may not pass it on to the borrower.
- 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.
- 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.