Celtic Bank

What Celtic Bank does

Celtic Bank is a privately held, FDIC-insured Utah-chartered industrial bank founded in 2001 and headquartered in Salt Lake City, operating as a subsidiary of Celtic Investment Inc. The bank has ranked in the top ten SBA lenders nationally every year since 2013 and provides a comprehensive suite of SBA-backed and conventional commercial financing — SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA B&I, Celtic Express, construction, asset-based, equipment, franchise, commercial real estate, seniors housing and care, and energy/infrastructure project finance — alongside a growing Strategic Lending Partnerships (BaaS) platform through which Celtic acts as the issuing bank for co-branded credit cards on the American Express and Visa networks and as capital, compliance, and origination infrastructure for fintech and platform partners including Squarespace, Clio, Mesa, NMI/Parafin, Mercantile (ABA and ASID programs), and others.

The bank's technology stack combines traditional bank-grade credit infrastructure with cloud-first digital channels: a proprietary partner loan portal providing real-time deal pipeline transparency, an in-house SBA processing and approval function enabled by Preferred SBA Lender status, an in-house construction and energy/infrastructure finance team, and an AI-powered loan origination platform deployed in partnership with Casca that compresses product configuration timelines from roughly twelve months to weeks. Celtic maintains a direct-to-consumer online application portal and a nationwide network of SVP/VP-level Business Development Officers covering dedicated territories.

Celtic generates revenue through interest income on its direct loan portfolio (spanning loan sizes from $25K Celtic Express loans up to $50MM franchise facilities), interchange and card-network revenue across 2.1M+ active co-branded credit cards, origination and servicing fees from its $24B+ cumulative Strategic Lending Partnerships platform, and participation in syndicated facilities for middle-market and energy/infrastructure borrowers. Distribution combines direct sales via Business Development Officers, a referral partner network of loan brokers supported by the proprietary portal, the Strategic Lending Partnerships channel, and a direct digital application portal; the bank has cumulatively deployed over $4B in direct small business funding and an additional $24B+ through partner programs, while $1.7B+ has been deployed across 170+ energy and infrastructure projects since 2014.

Name

Celtic Bank

Legal name

Celtic Bank

Website

https://celticbank.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Celtic Bank is a Salt Lake City-based FDIC-insured industrial bank that provides SBA, USDA, construction, franchise, and energy/infrastructure commercial financing to U.S. small and middle-market businesses, and serves as the issuing bank and compliance partner for fintech companies launching co-branded credit cards and embedded lending products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Banking and SBA Lending

NAICS

Commercial Banking (522110), Depository Credit Intermediation (5221), Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers (52231)

SIC

State Commercial Banks (6022), Mortgage Bankers & Loan Correspondents (6162)

akta.pro primary industry

SBA/Government-Backed & Development Finance Loans (FSAKAGAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

SBA/USDA Government-Backed Loan Intermediation (FSAEAEAI), BaaS Platforms & Sponsor Bank Enablement (FSAGALAA), SME/Industrial Development Banks (FSABAKAF)

Keywords

• SBA commercial lending
• Small business loans
• Embedded finance banking
• Credit card issuance
• Construction project finance

Headquarters

HQ city

Salt Lake City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Interest Income from Business Loans: Celtic Bank earns interest income on its core portfolio of SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA B&I, Celtic Express, asset-based, equipment, construction, and commercial real estate loans. Loan amounts range from $25K (Celtic Express) to $50M (franchise finance), with terms up to 35 years. Rates are typically variable (e.g., Prime +2.75% for SBA 7(a)), providing recurring interest income over the life of each loan.
2. Credit Card Issuance Income: Celtic Bank acts as issuing bank for co-branded credit cards on the American Express and Visa networks. As of the partnerships data, Celtic has 2.1M+ active credit cards. Revenue derives from interchange fees, card network fees, and interest on revolving balances across programs including ABA American Express Business Card (legal professionals), ASID American Express Business Card (interior designers), Squarespace Balance, Mesa Homeowners Card, and other embedded finance card programs.
3. Strategic Lending Partnership Fees: Celtic Bank earns fees from its Strategic Lending Partnership program where it provides regulatory expertise, loan origination infrastructure, underwriting, and compliance support to fintech companies building custom financing products. Over $24B has been funded through partner loan and credit programs, generating origination fees, servicing income, and network-related revenue.
4. Syndicated and Leveraged Finance Income: Celtic Bank provides senior debt financing for leveraged buyouts, add-on acquisitions, dividend recaps, growth financing, and digital infrastructure development for private equity-backed middle market companies. Recent transactions include $209MM senior secured facilities for a financial services firm and $75-110MM syndicated facilities for fiber network development and a tech company.
5. Referral Partner Fees: Celtic Bank pays referral fees to loan brokers and business consultants who refer qualified borrowers. The bank offers an attractive referral fee structure for qualified partners, funded from the bank's ability to originate loans at scale through these channels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Celtic Bank is an FDIC-insured Utah-chartered industrial bank that provides SBA-backed and conventional commercial loans to small and medium-sized businesses, including SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA B&I, construction, equipment, asset-based, franchise, and renewable energy project finance. It also operates a Strategic Lending Partnerships program serving as the issuing bank for fintech companies and platforms launching co-branded credit cards and embedded lending products on the American Express and Visa networks.

Product overview

Celtic Bank operates as a commercial lending bank offering a unified platform of SBA-backed and conventional loan products alongside a Strategic Lending Partnerships platform. The core lending suite includes SBA 7(a) Loans (including Celtic Express and Celtic Advantage variants), SBA 504 Loans, SBA Construction Financing, Asset-Based Lending, Equipment Leasing & Financing, Commercial Construction Financing, Energy/Infrastructure/Project Finance, Franchise Finance, Corporate Finance, and various business loans (Business Acquisition, Debt Refinance, Working Capital, USDA B&I, Partner Buyout, Commercial Real Estate, Seniors Housing & Care). The Strategic Lending Partnerships platform enables fintech companies to launch custom lending and credit card products with Celtic Bank handling compliance and underwriting. The Referral Partner Program provides loan brokers access to SBA loan products through a partner portal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SBA 7(a) Loans

Quantifiable outcome

• Top-ten SBA lender nationally every year since 2013
• +11 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles7 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Mercantile (Division of Onboard Partners)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2026Mercantile, a financial services platform and division of Onboard Partners, partnered with American Express and the American Bar Association (ABA) to launch the ABA American Express Business Card, issued by Celtic Bank on the American Express Network. The card targets solo practitioners and small law firms, offering up to 2% cash back on business spending and up to 5% on ABA purchases. The ABA selected Mercantile after an extensive evaluation. Celtic Bank provides the issuing bank function for the program.
• Mercantile / American Society of Interior Designers (ASID)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 May 2026Mercantile partnered with the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) to launch the ASID American Express Business Card, issued by Celtic Bank on the American Express network. The card offers flexible approval pathways for lower credit profiles, a Credit LimitShield self-selected threshold feature, and access to Amex benefits and rewards tailored to interior designers' project-based cash flow needs. This partnership marks the start of Mercantile's broader Amex card program expected to expand across professional verticals.
• CascacoreTechnology or Integration · 29 April 2026Celtic Bank partnered with Casca, an AI-native loan origination platform for commercial lending, to power its SBA lending program. Casca's cloud-first architecture enabled Celtic Bank to move from contract to configuration in weeks, compared to traditional loan origination system implementations that can take a year or more. The partnership aims to grow Celtic's SBA portfolio by streamlining loan origination, compressing timelines from months to days, and providing a digital borrowing experience for small business owners.
• Squarespace / StripecoreTechnology or Integration · 12 March 2026Squarespace launched Squarespace Balance, a financial account for merchants integrated within the Squarespace platform. The product offers a business Visa Card issued by Celtic Bank, with funds held at Fifth Third Bank, N.A. and payment services powered by Stripe. Celtic Bank provides the issuing bank function for the card program. Available to new U.S. users at no additional cost, with expansion to existing users planned.
• StripecoreTechnology or Integration · 12 March 2026Stripe provides payment services and card issuance infrastructure for Celtic Bank's fintech partner programs, including Squarespace Balance and Clio Capital. Stripe's issuing platform enables Celtic to power card programs across multiple partners without building proprietary issuing infrastructure for each program.
• Clio / Clio CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2026Clio launched Clio Capital, a financing program for law firms using its practice management platform, with Celtic Bank as the issuing lender and Stripe as the payments infrastructure provider. The program provides pre-qualified working capital through a streamlined in-platform application process. In its first week, Clio Capital disbursed over $1M across more than 35 loans, with amounts from $1,500 to approximately $230,000, leveraging Clio's payment processing data for underwriting to achieve an estimated 95% approval rate for pre-qualified borrowers.
• Fora FinancialmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 5 February 2026Celtic Bank partnered with Fora Financial to expand its lending capabilities. Fora Financial reported record performance in 2025 with a 17.1% increase in total originations and nearly 6,000 businesses supported across the United States, achieving its highest monthly funding volume in December. The partnership enables Celtic to reach additional SMB borrowers through Fora Financial's lending platform.
• NMI / ParafinmajorTechnology or Integration · 9 December 2025NMI launched NMI Business Capital, an embedded lending solution enabling software and merchant service provider partners to offer fast, pre-approved financing within their merchant portals. The product is powered by Parafin and loans are issued by Celtic Bank. Funds typically arrive within one to two business days, with repayment structured as a percentage of daily sales.
• MesacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Mesa launched the Mesa Homeowners Card, issued by Celtic Bank, offering rewards on mortgage payments, home improvement, utilities, and other expenses. Cardholders earn points redeemable for cash, gift cards, or travel, with additional annual benefits for specific service credits. Celtic Bank serves as the issuing bank for the program.
• American Express (Card Network)coreTechnology or IntegrationCeltic Bank issues co-branded credit cards on the American Express Network, including programs with professional associations (ABA, ASID) and fintech/platform partners. American Express provides the card network, brand, and benefits infrastructure while Celtic Bank serves as the FDIC-insured issuing bank providing regulatory oversight and capital.
• Visa (Card Network)coreTechnology or IntegrationCeltic Bank issues co-branded and white-label credit cards on the Visa network, including programs with Squarespace (Balance), Fold, and other platform partners. Visa provides the card network and acceptance infrastructure while Celtic Bank serves as the issuing bank providing regulatory licensing and cardholder servicing.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Truist Bank: Truist is a top-10 U.S. commercial bank with a large SBA lending franchise and energy project finance practice. It is a broad incumbent competing with Celtic in SBA, CRE, and project finance deals, and is also a co-lender in Celtic's energy and infrastructure facilities.
• LendingClub: LendingClub is an online lending platform and FDIC-insured bank holding company offering personal loans, business loans, and deposit products. It overlaps with Celtic's SMB and consumer credit franchise, including via partner-bank programs.
• Bank of America: Bank of America is a top-3 U.S. SBA 7(a) lender and a dominant commercial bank with a national small business, franchise, and CRE lending presence. It is a broad incumbent that defines the scale benchmark Celtic competes against in SBA.

Direct peers

• Customers Bank: Customers Bank operates a commercial lending and digital-banking franchise (including BaaS via BankMobile/BM Technologies) and competes with Celtic across specialty CRE, SBA, and embedded banking offerings.
• Lead Bank: Lead Bank is a community bank that has become a major Banking-as-a-Service partner for fintechs (e.g., Chime, Ramp). It is a direct competitor for the embedded finance / fintech issuing-bank relationships that anchor Celtic's Strategic Lending Partnerships.
• Stride Bank: Stride Bank is a Chartered Industrial Bank in Oklahoma that serves as an issuing bank for fintech partners (e.g., Chime, Stripe) and competes directly with Celtic in BaaS/embedded card and lending programs.
• Live Oak Bank: Live Oak Bank is a top-tier U.S. SBA-focused lender — historically the #1 SBA 7(a) lender by volume — and the most direct competitor to Celtic's SBA, USDA, and small business lending franchise.
• Cross River Bank: Cross River is a state-chartered bank that built a leading Banking-as-a-Service and fintech lending platform. It is the closest direct competitor to Celtic's Strategic Lending Partnerships business across embedded lending and card issuance.
• WebBank: WebBank is a Utah-chartered industrial bank specializing in private-label and white-label credit programs for fintechs and OEMs — a direct peer for Celtic's Strategic Lending Partnerships and co-branded card programs.

Emerging players

• Bluevine Capital: Bluevine is a fintech providing working capital, lines of credit, and business banking to SMBs through partner bank arrangements. It competes with Celtic's Celtic Express and embedded lending products for the same SMB borrower.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/celticbank
• Facebookfacebook.com/celticbank
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/celtic-bank

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles21 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments4 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Celtic Bank