Rates & Fees · Updated weekly

Transparent pricing. No surprises.

We publish every rate, every fee, and every dollar that touches your loan. Most SBA brokers won't show you their pricing until you're committed — that's the part of the industry we built Irving Fund to replace.

Upfront costs

Obligation

Impact on credit

Live rates · as of June 13, 2026

What SBA 7(a) costs today.

The SBA caps the interest rate a 7(a) lender can charge at WSJ Prime + a defined spread. The cap moves with Prime (6.75%). Within that ceiling, the lender prices your file based on credit profile, loan size, and program — most well-qualified files price well below the cap.

SBA 7(a) federal rate ceilings · variable rate, maturity ≥ 7 years

$250,001 – $350,000

Prime + 4.5%

11.25% max

$50,001 – $250,000

Prime + 6.0%

12.75% max

$50,000 or less

Prime + 6.5%

13.25% max

These are the maximum allowable rates set by federal rule. Lenders may — and do — quote below the ceiling depending on the borrower’s credit profile and the lender’s underwriting policy. What our network actually prices is below.

What our lender network typically prices

Below are the two product structures we place most often. Both quote materially below the SBA federal ceiling for their loan-size tier — that’s the placement specialist’s value over a marketplace.

SBA 7(a) Credit-Based

Prime + 4.50%to + 4.75%

11.50% max rate at the high end

~1.25 pts below the 12.75% SBA cap for $50K–$250K loans

Loan amount: $50K – $150K
Term: 10 years, fixed
Rate type: Fixed for life of loan
Prepay penalty: None

SBA 7(a) Traditional

Prime + 2.75%to + 3.00%

9.75% max rate at the high end

1.50–3.00 pts below the SBA cap depending on loan size

Loan amount: $150K – $350K
Term: 10 years, fixed
Rate type: Fixed for life of loan
Prepay penalty: None

How rates are set, in plain English.The SBA defines the ceiling. Within that ceiling, each lender prices your file based on credit profile, loan-to-value, debt-service coverage, and which program (Credit-Based vs Traditional) your file slots into. We route your file to the lender in our network whose pricing for files like yours typically lands closest to the bottom of their range — that’s the placement specialist’s job. We’ll quote your specific rate before you accept anything; no surprises at close.

How we get paid

It depends on the bank. Two things never change.

Some banks pay us directly when your loan funds. Others have a structure where the placement fee shows up at close as part of the bank’s closing costs. Different banks, different SOPs — but no matter how the fee flows, two things are always true.

$0 upfront. Ever.

You will never pay us a cent until the loan funds are in your business account. No application fee, no packaging fee, no retainer. If your loan doesn’t fund, we don’t get paid — period.

Non-binding.

Work with us, get matched to a bank, see the offer, walk away if it’s not right. No fees, no obligation, no hard sell. You don’t owe us anything until you accept an offer and the bank funds.

What you actually pay at close

The total you pay depends on how your file looks to a bank. There are two patterns.

Clean file

The bank pays our placement fee.

SBA guarantee fee. Federal, set by SBA rules. Same across every channel.
Bank fee at close. Typically $2,500–$3,000. Bank-side closing cost we can’t change.
Our placement fee. $0 to you — the bank pays us out of their revenue on the loan.

Less clean file

Bank doesn’t pay placement fees.

SBA guarantee fee. Same as above — federal, fixed.
Bank fee at close. Typically $2,500–$3,000.
Additional 2–3%. Some banks will underwrite tougher files but don’t pay broker placement fees. If your file is best placed there, the placement fee gets added to bank-side closing costs. We tell you upfront if your file is heading that way.

Better files have lower total fees. We don’t grade your file harder than the bank does — but we don’t sugarcoat where it sits, either.

The SBA guarantee fee, broken out

The SBA charges a one-time upfront guarantee fee at funding on loans with a maturity over 12 months. The fee is a percentage of the guaranteed portion of the loan, not the full loan amount. The fee schedule and the guarantee percentage both vary by loan size.

Loans ≤ $150,000: 2.00% of the guaranteed portion (SBA backs 85%)
Loans $150,001 – $700,000: 3.00% of the guaranteed portion (SBA backs 75%)
Loans > $700,000: 3.55% of the guaranteed portion (SBA backs 75%)

Example · $150,000 Credit-Based

$2,550

$150,000 × 85% × 2% = $2,550

Guaranteed portion: $127,500. Upfront fee at 2%: $2,550.

Example · $350,000 Traditional

$7,875

$350,000 × 75% × 3% = $7,875

Guaranteed portion: $262,500. Upfront fee at 3%: $7,875.

We’ll show you the exact dollar amount on your offer. The fee is published by the SBA, set the same across every channel, and verifiable independently. You can pay it from your loan proceeds or out of pocket — most borrowers finance it.

Compare paths

What you'd pay through other channels vs. us.

On a $150,000 Credit-Based SBA 7(a) loan, the numbers below are what borrowers actually pay across each channel. We're leaving the SBA guarantee fee out — it's the same across all channels and not something any of us can change.

Marketplace / broker network

Form gets blasted to 30–50 lenders, you pick from the responses

Application fee: $0 – $500
Packaging fee: $1,500 – $3,000
Broker fee at close: 1.5% – 3.0% of loan
Total borrower cost: $3,750 – $8,000

Direct bank application

You walk into one bank, they offer you their products only

Application fee: $0
Packaging fee: $0
Broker fee at close: $0
Total borrower cost: $0

The catch:the bank you walked into may not be the best fit for your file. You won't know until you've been declined or offered worse terms than another bank would give you. Most borrowers stop after one rejection.

Irving Fund

Direct placement, full bank network

We read your file, pick the bank, package the deal, stay through close

Application fee: $0
Packaging fee: $0
Broker fee at close: $0 (paid by the bank)
Total borrower cost: $0

Same borrower cost as walking into one bank, with 11+ SBA preferred lenders evaluating your file via the bank that's most likely to fund it.

Sample deals

What actually funds at close.

Two clean-file sample deals — one Credit-Based, one Traditional. Gross loan, the fees that come off the top, and the net dollars that hit your business account. Same structure every borrower sees on their offer.

SBA 7(a) Credit-Based

$150,000

Approved principal

Rate

11.25% rate · Prime + 4.50%

Term

10 years fixed · no prepay penalty

Monthly payment

$2,090

Disbursement

Gross loan$150,000

SBA upfront guarantee fee ($150K × 85% × 2%)−$2,550

Bank closing costs (typical)−$2,750

Net to your account$144,700

SBA 7(a) Traditional

$350,000

Approved principal

Rate

9.75% rate · Prime + 3.00%

Term

10 years fixed · no prepay penalty

Monthly payment

$4,580

Disbursement

Gross loan$350,000

SBA upfront guarantee fee ($350K × 75% × 3%)−$7,875

Bank closing costs (typical)−$2,750

Net to your account$339,375

Clean-file case: the bank pays our placement fee out of their revenue on the loan, so the only costs at close are the SBA-set guarantee fee and the bank’s standard closing costs. If your file is in the less-clean scenario above, expect another 2–3% in bank-side closing costs — we tell you upfront so you can decide.

Honest answers

Questions we get every week.

Are there prepayment penalties?: No. Our SBA 7(a) programs — Credit-Based and Traditional — both run on 10-year fixed terms, and the federal SBA prepayment penalty only kicks in on 15-year-or-longer terms (which we don’t write). Pay early whenever you want; you save interest.
Why does my loan have an SBA guarantee fee?: The federal government guarantees up to 75% of each SBA 7(a) loan — that's the reason banks offer terms borrowers wouldn't otherwise get. The guarantee fee is how that government backstop is funded. It's set by SBA rules, not by us or by your lender, and it's the same across every channel.
What if I refinance later?: You can refinance an SBA loan into another SBA loan or a conventional loan at any time. We'll help you decide if it makes sense — and run the math against staying put. If a refi doesn't save you net of fees, we'll tell you.
Does Irving Fund pull my credit?: We use a soft pull at pre-qualification — zero impact on your score. The bank that funds your loan will pull hard at offer acceptance — you'll be notified before that happens.
How does Irving Fund choose which bank to package my file to?: Each of our 11+ preferred lenders has a credit committee that funds a specific kind of file — some prefer service businesses, some lend on owner-occupied real estate, some run on revenue and personal credit. Your specialist reads your file and matches it to the bank whose committee funds files most like yours. That’s the entire value of a placement specialist.
What’s the 2–3% you mention under “less clean file”?: Some banks will underwrite tougher files but don’t pay broker placement fees as part of their SOP. If your file is best placed with one of those banks, the placement fee gets added to bank-side closing costs — typically 2–3% on top of the standard $2,500–$3,000 close. We tell you upfront if your file is heading there, and you can walk away with no obligation.

See your exact rate before you commit.

Pre-qualify in 60 seconds — soft pull only. Your specialist quotes a rate within the hour, with the bank's offer letter in 48 hours. Everything in writing, every fee disclosed up front.

Pre-qualify now → Or call (888) 491-0491