Despite a tough year, SBA's popularity with lenders endures
American Banker·2025-12-18 07:28

Key insight: After closing a 95millionSBAloansaletoMiami−basedBanescoUSA,BayFirstFinancialisworkingtocloseasecond,largersaletoBanescobyyear−end.Forwardlook:BanescoUSACEOCalixtoGarciaVelezisconfidenthisbankcanmeetorexceedBayFirst′sSBAoriginationlevels,whichapproached95 million SBA loan sale to Miami-based Banesco USA, BayFirst Financial is working to close a second, larger sale to Banesco by year-end.Forward look: Banesco USA CEO Calixto Garcia Velez is confident his bank can meet or exceed BayFirst's SBA origination levels, which approached 500 million annually prior to the onset of credit quality issues.Expert quote: "We're going to make a big effort to see if we can be successful in cross-selling these small business clients. We want t ...