East West Bank: SBA Lending Profile
East West Bank is an FDIC-insured bank, headquartered in Pasadena, CA. It is active in 32 states, concentrated around CA, TX, WA. Everything below comes from federal SBA loan records, not from the lender's marketing. This is what it has actually funded.
Loan sizes East West Bank actually approves
The median SBA approval at East West Bank is $497,000. The middle 80% of its loans fall between $50,000 and $2,120,000. The smallest approval on record since 2020 is $5,000 and the largest is $5,000,000. If the amount you need sits far outside that range, this is probably not the right first call, no matter what the website says.
Programs
| Program | Loans FY25-26 | Median size | Median rate | Median term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBA 7(a) | 305 | $497K | 8.5% | 10 years |
| 504 first mortgage (third party) | 38 | $1.7M | n/a | 20 years |
Industries it funds most
| Industry | Loans since 2020 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Full-Service Restaurants | 109 | 13.8% |
| Limited-Service Restaurants | 48 | 6.1% |
| Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores | 32 | 4% |
| Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers | 27 | 3.4% |
| Other Miscellaneous Durable Goods Merchant Wholesalers | 19 | 2.4% |
| Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels | 18 | 2.3% |
| Other Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods Merchant Wholesalers | 15 | 1.9% |
| General Automotive Repair | 12 | 1.5% |
| Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors | 12 | 1.5% |
| Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores | 11 | 1.4% |
| Tax Preparation Services | 10 | 1.3% |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars | 10 | 1.3% |
Conventional small business lending, beyond SBA
SBA loans are a fraction of most banks' small business lending. Under the Community Reinvestment Act, East West Bank reported 1,618 small business loan originations in 2024, totaling $253M, at an average of about $156K per loan across 29 states. 64.5% of those loans went to businesses with under $1M in annual revenue.
Borrower profile
- only 11.3% of its recent SBA loans went to startups, this lender works almost entirely with established businesses.
- Collateral was taken on 84.1% of its recent SBA loans.
- 7% of its loans carry fixed rates; the rest are variable.
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Sources and limits. Figures are derived from U.S. Small Business Administration 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan-level records (data as of 2026-06-30, retrieved 2026-08-08) and FDIC public institution data. Conventional small business lending figures from FFIEC CRA disclosure data (2024 activity year); CRA loan counts include business credit card originations at some institutions. They describe past lending activity only. They are not rate quotes, not current offers, and not an indication that any business will qualify. Lender programs and criteria change. Big Brain Funding is not affiliated with or endorsed by East West Bank.