Once an SBA 7(a) loan is approved, the median borrower has money in 20 days. That is the measured answer for FY2024–FY2025, from 119,555 funded loans, and it varies more by lender than by anything else: the fastest high-volume lenders disburse in a median 3 days, the slowest in 43. The famous "30 to 90 days" covers the whole journey from application; this is the leg after "yes," measured for the first time.
By Mario Bailey·
Source: SBA FOIA 7(a) data, as of 2026-03-31
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What we measured, and what we can't. The days from
SBA approval to the loan's first disbursement, on every 7(a) loan where both dates are
recorded. The public record does not capture the application-to-approval leg (gathering
documents, underwriting), so the full journey is longer than the figures here; see
the SBA loan process for
the end-to-end picture. In FY2024–FY2025, 80.6% of approvals had
disbursed by the data's cut-off; the rest were canceled or still pending.
Middle half (25th to 75th percentile)
Median days
Days from SBA approval to first disbursement, FY2024–FY2025, computed from 119,555 funded
7(a) loans. This is the leg after approval only; the application-to-approval time is not in the public
record, so the full journey is longer (commonly cited as 30 to 90 days).
Approval to first disbursement, by fiscal year
The band is the middle half of loans. Early years show a large share of same-day
disbursements and the pattern shifts sharply in FY2017, which may reflect how lenders
recorded dates as much as actual speed; recent years are the reliable read. The newest year
is a snapshot mid-stream: slower loans haven't funded yet, so its figures skew fast.
2010 11 days
· 0–48 · 84.9% disbursed
2011 13 days
· 0–54 · 84.9% disbursed
2012 9 days
· 0–43 · 87.6% disbursed
2013 9 days
· 0–48 · 87.1% disbursed
2014 8 days
· 0–40 · 88.3% disbursed
2015 8 days
· 0–43 · 87.3% disbursed
2016 7 days
· 0–39 · 88.6% disbursed
2017 27 days
· 6–55 · 89.8% disbursed
2018 33 days
· 20–56 · 89.7% disbursed
2019 33 days
· 20–56 · 88.0% disbursed
2020 30 days
· 17–50 · 86.2% disbursed
2021 14 days
· 6–30 · 87.1% disbursed
2022 12 days
· 6–22 · 87.5% disbursed
2023 11 days
· 6–20 · 87.4% disbursed
2024 17 days
· 8–36 · 85.3% disbursed
2025 21 days
· 9–42 · 76.4% disbursed
2026 16 days
· 8–29 · 43.6% disbursed
Loan size barely matters
The spread across size bands is only 6 days at the median
(FY2024–FY2025). Bigger loans close slower, but not by much; the real estate paperwork adds
days, not months.
Loan size
Median days
Middle half
Loans
Loans of $50,000 or less
19
8–40
29,318
$50,001 to $250,000
16
7–34
42,329
$250,001 to $350,000
21
9–39
9,505
More than $350,000
22
11–44
38,403
A related surprise: SBA Express loans do not fund faster after approval
(20 days median vs 18 for standard Preferred Lenders Program loans).
Express's speed advantage is in the approval decision itself, the leg this data can't see,
not in disbursement.
The lender speed table
Every lender with at least 500 disbursed loans in FY2024–FY2025, fastest
first. The gap is enormous: SouthState Bank, National Association put money out in a median
3 days; Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company took 43. Speed partly follows
the business model (small Express shops close at approval; construction-heavy books disburse
on milestones), so read the median loan size beside the days.
Budget the standard 30–90 days from application to money, then note that the
post-approval leg is the part you can shop: the difference between a
3-day lender and a 43-day lender is most of a
quarter. Ask any lender you're comparing how quickly they typically disburse after approval,
and see how
to apply for what speeds up the leg before it. Find lenders active in your state and
industry with the Lender Finder.
For lenders. Disbursement speed is a competitive
metric your borrowers feel and your BD team can sell. We benchmark it against named
competitors, by market and loan size, from the full record. See
what we do for lenders.
Method, sources, and disclaimer. Days are computed
from approval date to first disbursement date in the public SBA FOIA 7(a) data (as of 2026-03-31);
see our methodology. First
disbursement is not full disbursement (construction loans draw over time). Loans never
disbursed (canceled or pending) are excluded from day counts; 421 loans
with a disbursement recorded before approval were excluded as data errors. Tier, program, and
lender figures use FY2024–FY2025 approvals so the newest, still-funding year does not skew
them; dates are as recorded by lenders and practices vary. 504 loans disburse differently and
are excluded. Lender names are not normalized across mergers. SBA Loan Index is not affiliated
with the SBA and is not a lender, broker, or financial advisor.
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