Banks finance more commercial property than any other source — apartment buildings, retail, office, industrial and mixed-use — and most of them lend close to home, inside the footprint of their own branches. That is why a bank based in California, or one with branches near your property, is often a better first call than a national name. Expect a bank to want recourse and, usually, a banking relationship; if a personal guarantee is the sticking point, a debt fund or CMBS lender is the likelier fit — the capital guide compares them.
Banks Based in California, Largest Lenders First
10 of 92 California-headquartered institutions.
| # | Institution | CRE book | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East West Bank | $18.36bn | Contact available |
| 2 | City National Bank | $12.14bn | Contact available |
| 3 | Banc of California | $10.39bn | Contact available |
| 4 | Cathay Bank | $7.93bn | Contact available |
| 5 | Mechanics Bank | $7.04bn | Contact available |
| 6 | Citizens Business Bank, National Association | $6.33bn | Contact available |
| 7 | Bank of Hope | $5.78bn | Contact available |
| 8 | Axos Bank | $5.43bn | Contact available |
| 9 | Farmers and Merchants Bank of Long Beach | $4.43bn | Contact available |
| 10 | Tri Counties Bank | $4.03bn | Contact available |
Banks Expanding Their Lending
Top 10 California-headquartered banks, ranked by growth after removing acquisitions. A bank adding to its book is actively quoting, which usually makes it readier to take on a borrower it has not lent to before. The bar shows each institution's growth rate as a share of the fastest grower's rate in this table — it is scaled to the percentage, not to the dollar change, so the largest dollar mover is not necessarily the longest bar.
| # | Institution | Growth excluding acquisitions | CRE book | Contact | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monterey County Bank | +78.9% | $63m → $113m | Contact available | |
| 2 | Bank of San Francisco | +65.0% | $135m → $222m | Contact available | |
| 3 | Bank of the Orient | +38.3% | $377m → $522m | Contact available | |
| 4 | Beneficial State Bank | +24.2% | $532m → $661m | Contact available | |
| 5 | Partners Bank of California | +22.7% | $221m → $272m | Contact available | |
| 6 | Golden Valley Bank | +20.4% | $112m → $135m | Contact available | |
| 7 | Five Star Bank | +19.6% | $2.62bn → $3.14bn | Contact available | |
| 8 | American Riviera Bank | +19.3% | $538m → $642m | Contact available | |
| 9 | Open Bank | +18.7% | $650m → $772m | Contact available | |
| 10 | Exchange Bank | +18.7% | $836m → $992m | Contact available |
National and Regional Lenders with Branches Here
Top 20 by CRE book size.
| # | Institution | CRE book | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $103.80bn | Contact available |
| 2 | Bank of America, National Association | $55.21bn | Contact available |
| 3 | U.S. Bank National Association | $41.71bn | Contact available |
| 4 | PNC Bank, National Association | $36.76bn | Contact available |
| 5 | Flagstar Bank, National Association | $32.76bn | Contact available |
| 6 | Citibank, National Association | $25.19bn | Contact available |
| 7 | Citizens Bank, National Association | $22.95bn | Contact available |
| 8 | Valley National Bank | $22.66bn | Contact available |
| 9 | First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company | $21.97bn | Contact available |
| 10 | BMO Bank National Association | $20.67bn | Contact available |
| 11 | Columbia Bank | $19.47bn | Contact available |
| 12 | East West Bank | $18.36bn | Contact available |
| 13 | Zions Bancorporation, N.A. | $15.05bn | Contact available |
| 14 | Western Alliance Bank | $14.32bn | Contact available |
| 15 | CIBC Bank USA | $13.99bn | Contact available |
| 16 | City National Bank | $12.14bn | Contact available |
| 17 | UMB Bank, National Association | $10.71bn | Contact available |
| 18 | Banc of California | $10.39bn | Contact available |
| 19 | WaFd Bank | $9.07bn | Contact available |
| 20 | Cathay Bank | $7.93bn | Contact available |
National institutions
These institutions also clear the state’s qualifying population test — at least one branch presence and a CRE book of $100m or more — but are not evaluated for state relationship-lending purposes and carry no contact: Beal Bank USA ; BNY Mellon, National Association ; JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association ; The Bank of New York Mellon .
Sources. 141 institutions qualified in California: at least one branch in the state (FDIC SOD 2025) and a CRE book of $100m or more. Figures below are institution-level and unprorated — a bank lending in multiple states shows its full CRE book on every state page where it qualifies, not a state-prorated share. FDIC Call Reports and FDIC Summary of Deposits. The qualifying population excludes de novo institutions, excludes any quarter carrying a >40% QoQ reversal in its CRE book, and requires a CRE book of $100m or more — no deposit-share floor is applied to the qualifying population. The page carries two CRE book size rankings drawn from that same qualifying population, on the same basis: one ranking the state’s largest CRE lenders regardless of where they are headquartered, one ranking the largest lenders headquartered in the state. An institution may appear in both. Growth is percent change over four quarters (30 June 2025 → 30 June 2026), excluding growth attributable to an FDIC-reported acquisition, subject to a $50m prior-quarter book floor; institutions whose book shrank over the window are excluded from the growth list. Institutions with a prior-quarter CRE book above $25bn are also excluded from the growth list — growth at that scale is a national balance-sheet movement, not lending concentrated in any one state, and would otherwise crowd out real local growth on thin-population states. This ceiling applies to the growth list only; the same institutions still appear on the CRE book size rankings above, which rank nationally by design. The growth list is limited to institutions headquartered in California, for the same reason: an out-of-state bank's rate is its nationwide growth, not its California lending, and FDIC does not report a state split. The size rankings are unrestricted — the page still lists every lender with a branch here.