103 Largest Lenders in the U.S.

One way to find out who’s who in the U.S. lending landscape is to concentrate on the financial institutions, from banks and credit unions to mortgage and finance companies, that have the richest portfolios. These powerful entities are not just critical forces in the U.S. economy, but important to individuals, families, entrepreneurs, and current business owners across the country.

Thousands of financial institutions are doing a tremendous amount of lending, with the money being used for a wide variety of purposes. In addition to issuing loans, many of the lenders also provide an array of products, such as low-cost or free deposit (checking and savings) accounts and investment vehicles like certificates of deposits.

In fact, lending money is a primary way financial institutions earn revenue so they can not only offer affordable deposit accounts to their customers, but they can also turn a profit to satisfy their shareholders¹ (unless they’re credit unions, which are not-for-profit businesses that reinvest the profits into the organization for their members’ benefit).

In general, financial institutions use their customer-deposited funds as one of their sources of capital with which to issue loans. All these loans generate money for the lender because fees and interest rates are tied to them. Therefore, not only does the lender get the money it loaned back when the client adheres to the payment schedule, but it also turns a profit — thus increasing its ability to make more and larger loans.

To determine the most powerful financial institutions in the lending sphere, consider those with the most consolidated assets.

According to Federal Reserve data from December 2025², the top 25 are:

As you will see, some of these financial institutions specialize in loans for each of the lending categories below, while others are narrower in scope. The most common installment loan products for individuals are mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and consumer (personal) loans, while businesses take out commercial loans to finance their ventures, both as startup capital and for operations and growth.

Most people rely on mortgages to make their first home purchase because home prices are typically out of reach for a cash-only transaction.

To identify the mortgage that best suits their credit profile and financial circumstances, they typically scour the market options. They may go to the bank or credit union they already do business with, or seek a loan from a financial institution that specifically deals with mortgages.

Whatever the case, homebuyers try to obtain the loan with the best terms, with a strong focus on the interest rate since it’s an important factor in how much the loan will ultimately cost.

Some financial institutions have become dominant in the mortgage lending space. The most recent numbers come from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

According to the latest Mortgage Market Activity and Trends Report³ released by the CFPB, the top 10 mortgage lenders for total loans issued in the U.S. per year are:

Rocket Mortgages issues the highest number of total mortgages, beating its closest competitor, United Wholesale Mortgage, by just 1,000 loans.

Some lenders concentrate on initial home purchase loans, however, while others are on refinancing. According to the CFPB report, these are the top 10 mortgage lenders for home purchase loans (first mortgages):

Plenty of homeowners turn to loan refinancing to get a better interest rate or to elongate the term so the payments are more affordable. For refinancing, the lenders and numbers shift around yet again:

As with homes, consumers tend to purchase personal cars and trucks by borrowing money from a financial institution. In the U.S., more than 80% of new vehicles purchased in 2024 were financed.⁴

According to the publication S&P Global (March 20, 2024), the top 10 auto lenders by U.S. sales⁵ in 2023 are:

While the majority of new cars are purchased with financing, many consumers are falling through on their payments. 2023 saw the highest delinquency rate in recent years, hitting 3.32% according to ​​S&P Global Market Intelligence. 

This increase in delinquency seems to be the result of supply-chain adjustments post-COVID-19. Car prices dramatically increased, but interest rates were still low, allowing consumers to take out larger loans than they would previously have qualified for.

Consumer loans are installment loan products, which means that they are provided to the person in a single lump sum (as opposed to a line of credit that can be drawn from and the balance changes based on usage). Installment loans are repaid in fixed monthly payments, and interest is built into the payments.

In addition to using these loans to purchase homes, vehicles, and to finance a higher education, consumers may also take out personal loans. The money from these loans can be used for pretty much anything, from home furniture to vacations.

As per data collected by American Banker, the bank holding companies with the largest consumer loan portfolios⁶ as of March 24, 2025, are:

The number of loans a financial institution makes is just one way of quantifying lending power. Sales revenue is another, which is compiled by the business credit reporting company Dun & Bradstreet.

Using sales as the measure, here are the top financial services companies in the United States⁷:

Parents and students often depend on loans to pay for higher education. The average cost of a four-year college education⁸ in the U.S stands at $38,270 per year — and graduate school costs another $44,640 and $71,140 in annual tuition.⁹ Student loans may be federal or private, and many students obtain both during their higher education pursuits.

The largest student lender of federal student loans is the U.S. Department of Education. According to Education Data Initiative¹⁰, the Department of Education issues 92% of the country’s $1.78 trillion of student loans today.

In contrast, private student loans, which are made by a lender such as a bank, credit union, state agency, or school, account for just 7.79% of student loans. The national banks that currently offer private student loans, in order from highest to lowest total assets:

• PNC Financial Services Group – $554 billion¹¹
• Citizens Bank – $226.7 billion¹²
• Discover – $147.6 billion¹³

National banks offer the span of services that consumers expect, but the consumer bank Sallie Mae has a single function to originate, service, and collect on student loans.

Sallie Mae owns 1.4% of student loans¹⁴ today. In 2024, its private education loan originations reached the sum of $7 billion¹⁵. As of 2023, Sallie Mae’s assets were approximately $29.17 billion.¹⁶

Other major financial institutions in the private student loan sector that only have an online presence are:

• College Ave
• Advantage Education Loan
• Ascent
• SoFi
• LendKey
• CitizensOne
• Earnest
• CustomChoice

And then there’s business. Commercial loan lenders work with small, midsize, and large companies to provide them with capital to use as startup funds, for regular operations, unexpected costs, expansion, and to purchase property and inventory.

Small business owners may get SBA loans that are partially guaranteed by the U.S. government. Because the Small Business Administration reduces some of the risk that the financial institution takes on in lending the money, SBA loans can be easier to qualify for than business loans on the open market.

As of June 13, 2025, the top 25 most active SBA lenders in the United States¹⁷ are:

Most business owners use SBA loans to buy or renovate real estate or to invest in necessary equipment, though SBA loan money is also used as working capital, to make payroll, and to purchase inventory and supplies.

A whole other category of commercial loans is available for the purchase of real estate intended for business use. Hundreds of financial institutions provide these loans, but the top 20 bank holding companies with the largest commercial real estate loan portfolios¹⁸ in 2024 are:

Businesses can look into other loan sources as well, including those from all the major banks. The top five conventional lenders¹⁹ are:

1. JP Morgan Chase
2. Bank of America
3. Wells Fargo
4. Citibank
5. Goldman Sachs

The most prolific credit unions for business loans²⁰ are:

• Navy Federal Credit Union
• State Employees’ Credit Union
• Pentagon Federal Credit Union
• SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union
• Boeing Employees Credit Union
• Mountain America Federal Credit Union
• America First Federal Credit Union
• Alliant Credit Union
• Golden 1 Credit Union
• Suncoast Credit Union

Finally, commercial loans are available from numerous non-traditional lenders²¹, including:

• Fora Financial
• BlueVine
• Accion
• OnDeck
• SBG Funding
• QuickBooks Capital
• National Funding

Whether the financial institution is big or small and grants many or a few loans, all but one type of loan (federal student loans) considers the person’s creditworthiness to determine qualification and set terms.

After the person submits the application, the lender will analyze the applicant’s credit reports and credit scores. It will also review the applicant’s online form or paperwork that describes the person’s financial capability (income and debt) to repay the loan, depending on the product, collateral, and assets.

For this reason, it is important for all applicants to check their creditworthiness²² before pursuing a loan and only apply for the one that is within their scope.

Once a loan is issued, it’s important to manage it responsibly. For an installment loan, all that means is sending payments on time, unlike credit cards and lines of credit, where credit utilization²³ needs to be low and monitored.

Because both consumer and business credit scores rank payment history as the most important factor, meeting those due dates month after month is essential to keeping credit scores high — and excellent loan options open.

Clearly, a tremendous number of lenders and loan types are on the market. Vast sums of money are there waiting for the right borrower to come along. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement, after all!

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/business/dealbook/banks-payouts-shareholders.html ↩︎
2. https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/lbr/current/ ↩︎
3. https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_2023-mortgage-market-activity-and-trends_2024-12.pdf ↩︎
4. https://www.statista.com/statistics/453000/share-of-new-vehicles-with-financing-usa/ ↩︎
5. https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/articles/2024/3/consumer-checkup-us-bank-auto-loan-delinquencies-reach-decade-long-high-in-2023-80822761 ↩︎
6. https://www.americanbanker.com/list/20-bank-holding-companies-with-the-largest-consumer-loan-portfolios ↩︎
7. https://www.globaldatabase.com/top-20-financial-services-companies-by-revenue-in-2023 ↩︎
8. https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-college ↩︎
9. https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-a-masters-degree ↩︎
10. https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics ↩︎
11. https://investor.pnc.com/financial-information/balance-sheet ↩︎
12. https://investor.citizensbank.com/about-us/our-company.aspx?WT.ac=HPDDBA ↩︎
13. https://investorrelations.discover.com/newsroom/press-releases/press-release-details/2025/Discover-Financial-Services-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-2024-Net-Income-of-1.3-Billion-or-5.11-Per-Diluted-Share-and-Full-Year-Net-Income-of-4.5-Billion-or-17.72-Per-Diluted-Share/default.aspx ↩︎
14. https://www.bankrate.com/loans/student-loans/sallie-mae-federal-or-private/ ↩︎
15. https://www.salliemae.com/content/dam/slm/writtencontent/Reports/investors/february/4Q_2024_Investor_Presentation.pdf ↩︎
16. https://www.statista.com/statistics/259310/total-assets-of-sallie-mae-from-2008/ ↩︎
17. https://careports.sba.gov/views/7a504LenderReport/LenderReport?%3Aembed=yes&%3Atoolbar=no ↩︎
18. https://www.americanbanker.com/data/bank-holding-companies-with-the-largest-commercial-real-estate-loan-portfolios-102819 ↩︎
19. https://www.americanbanker.com/list/20-bank-holding-companies-with-the-largest-business-loan-portfolios ↩︎
20. https://www.americanbanker.com/list/20-credit-unions-with-the-most-loans-and-leases ↩︎
21. https://www.uschamber.com/co/run/business-financing/nonbank-lenders-for-small-businesses ↩︎
22. https://www.badcredit.org/how-to/how-to-check-your-credit-score-for-free/ ↩︎
23. https://www.badcredit.org/how-to/what-is-credit-utilization-ratio/ ↩︎