Live Oak Bank has again landed atop the list of Small Business Administration lenders in the SBA’s 7(a) program.

The results for 7(a) lending during the federal fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, were posted to the SBA website recently. Nationally during the fiscal year, the 7(a) program made about 42,000 loans for a total of nearly $22.6 billion, according to the SBA website.

Live Oak, the most active SBA 7(a) lender by dollar amount, was followed, in descending order, by Byline Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, Celtic Bank Corp., Huntington National Bank, Newtek Small Business Finance, Keybank National Assn., Seacoast Commerce Bank, U.S. Bank and Harvest Small Business Finance.

“Live Oak is proud to serve American small business owners in a time of real need,” Live Oak Chairman and CEO James “Chip” Mahan said in a news release. “Our teams stay close to our customers to understand their financial needs, and our work in 2020 reflects what small business owners need to navigate these times – and that is capital.”

Live Oak approved 1,068 7(a) loans in FY2020, putting more than $1.49 billion into the hands of small business owners across the country, according to the SBA website. In the quarter ended Sept. 30 alone, the bank originated 458 7(a) loans for nearly $640 million, a substantial increase over the same quarter in 2019, when it made 250 loans for $336.3 million.

“It's worth noting that the SBA 7(a) program is really designed for times like these to support lending to small businesses during periods of uncertainty,” Live Oak Bank President Huntley Garriott said during the bank’s recent Q3 earnings call. “And we've been working at it for over a decade to be the best SBA lender we can be, and I think it really paid off and then showed in this quarter.”

Garriott made a similar statement in the 7(a) program news release, saying that Live Oak Bank’s mission to be “America’s small business bank” is “rooted in our dedication to those who shape local economies in both rural and metropolitan communities across our country.”