First Merchants Bank: SBA Lending Profile
First Merchants Bank is an FDIC-insured bank, headquartered in Muncie, IN. It is a national lender, with SBA loans on record in 46 states and territories. Everything below comes from federal SBA loan records, not from the lender's marketing. This is what it has actually funded.
Loan sizes First Merchants Bank actually approves
The median SBA approval at First Merchants Bank is $375,000. The middle 80% of its loans fall between $50,000 and $1,985,200. The smallest approval on record since 2020 is $15,000 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) | 269 | $375K | 9.5% | 10 years |
| 504 first mortgage (third party) | 26 | $530K | n/a | 20 years |
Industries it funds most
| Industry | Loans since 2020 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Full-Service Restaurants | 40 | 4.6% |
| Limited-Service Restaurants | 32 | 3.7% |
| Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars | 28 | 3.2% |
| General Automotive Repair | 24 | 2.8% |
| Residential Remodelers | 20 | 2.3% |
| Other Personal Care Services | 20 | 2.3% |
| Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors | 18 | 2.1% |
| Beauty Salons | 17 | 2% |
| General Freight Trucking, Local | 15 | 1.7% |
| Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers | 14 | 1.6% |
| Landscaping Services | 14 | 1.6% |
| General Freight Trucking, Long-Distance, Truckload | 13 | 1.5% |
Conventional small business lending, beyond SBA
SBA loans are a fraction of most banks' small business lending. Under the Community Reinvestment Act, First Merchants Bank reported 2,087 small business loan originations in 2024, totaling $391M, at an average of about $187K per loan across 15 states. 54% of those loans went to businesses with under $1M in annual revenue.
Borrower profile
- 22.1% of its recent SBA loans went to startups or businesses under two years old.
- Collateral was taken on 79.2% of its recent SBA loans.
- 24.3% of its SBA lending is revolving lines of credit rather than term loans.
- 1.6% 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 First Merchants Bank.