The specs
BluevineMB Financial Business Loan (legacy brand, now Fifth Third)
Product typeLOCMulti-product
Amount range$10K – $250KLegacy MB Financial products consolidated into Fifth Third in 2019. Current Fifth Third equivalents: $5K – $100K (Express Business Loan); $10K – $500K (term + LOC); $250K – $5M (SBA 7(a))
Cost (factor / APR)APR 6.2% – 27% (LOC)Current Fifth Third pricing: APR 8% – 15% (term + LOC, relationship-priced); SBA Prime + 2.25 – 2.75%
Speed to fund1 – 3 business days24 – 72 hours (Express ≤ $100K, existing customers); 5 – 10 business days (term + LOC); 30 – 90 days (SBA)
Min time in business12 months24 months
Min monthly revenue$10,000$15,000+/mo typical for unsecured products
Min credit score625+680+
Products
- Line of credit
- Invoice factoring
- Express Business Loan (via Fifth Third)
- Business term loans
- Business LOC
- SBA 7(a)
- Equipment financing
- Commercial real estate
Verdicts by use case
- Former MB Financial Chicago-area customer with 24+ months TIB and 680+ FICO needing ≤ $100K — Winner: MB Financial Business Loan (legacy brand, now Fifth Third). As of 2026-06-28 the current Fifth Third Express Business Loan (legacy MB Financial replacement for fast SMB credit) at 9 – 13% APR closes in 24 – 72 hours for existing customers — uniquely competitive with Bluevine on both speed and cost. Bluevine LOC funds in 1 – 3 business days at 6.2 – 27% APR (realistic middle quotes 14 – 18%). For former MB Financial customers in Chicago with preserved Fifth Third relationship history the Express channel is structurally cheaper and competitive on speed.
- Newer business between 12 and 24 months TIB — Winner: Bluevine. Fifth Third's 24+ months TIB floor (which applies to former MB Financial customers post-conversion) declines sub-2-year merchants. Bluevine's 12+ months TIB floor is reachable for businesses in the 12 – 24 month window. For merchants in that band Bluevine is the only structural option in this pair, providing standing LOC capacity until the merchant can qualify for Fifth Third pricing at month 24.
- Revolving credit with consistent standing capacity above $100K — Winner: Bluevine. Bluevine LOC is a true revolving line — draw, repay, redraw without re-underwriting, up to $250K with consistent committed capacity at the approved limit. Fifth Third Express Business Loan caps at $100K and is a fixed-amortization term loan, not a revolving line. Fifth Third's standard Business LOC scales to $500K but operates with periodic review. For genuinely flexible revolving capacity above $100K Bluevine's product shape is structurally cleaner.
- Speed on existing Fifth Third (former MB Financial) deposit relationship for sub-$100K need — Winner: Tie. Bluevine LOC funds in 1 – 3 business days on initial draw. Fifth Third Express Business Loan decisions in 24 – 72 hours with funding 1 – 2 business days after approval for former MB Financial customers (whose relationship history was preserved) — total timeline 3 – 5 business days. The tie reflects that Fifth Third uniquely closed the speed gap among regional banks through the Express channel; for former MB Financial customers Express is roughly comparable to Bluevine's initial-draw timeline at meaningfully lower cost.
- SBA 7(a) deal in $250K – $1M range — Winner: MB Financial Business Loan (legacy brand, now Fifth Third). Fifth Third (legal successor to MB Financial's SBA franchise) originates SBA 7(a) loans up to $5M at Prime + 2.25 – 2.75% as a top-20 SBA lender. By far the cheapest cost of capital available in this pair for SMB borrowers willing to absorb the 30 – 90 day timeline. Bluevine caps at $250K LOC and doesn't offer SBA paths or long-amortization term loans. For SBA-eligible deals Fifth Third is structurally the only option in this pair.
The honest takeaway
Bluevine and MB Financial Business Loan (legacy brand, now Fifth Third) solve overlapping but distinct problems. The right choice depends on three things you already know about your business: how fast you need the money, how long you've been operating, and whether the capital need is one-time or recurring.
Frequently asked questions
- I'm in Chicago with a Bluevine LOC and my business banked with MB Financial before the conversion — what's my best path now?
- Apply through Fifth Third Bank — that's the legal successor to MB Financial. Your converted Chicago-area MB Financial branch is now a Fifth Third branch and the multi-year MB Financial deposit-relationship history was migrated to Fifth Third RMs in 2019, so the relationship still counts toward Fifth Third RM pricing. Practical setup if you qualify for both Bluevine and Fifth Third: Fifth Third Express Business Loan or standard Business Term Loan for predictable larger one-shot capital needs at 9 – 13% APR (relationship-priced — the former MB Financial tenure helps you here), Bluevine LOC retained for high-frequency revolving draws at 12 – 18% APR. The combined setup matches each capital need to the structurally cheapest product. Walk into the converted Chicago Fifth Third branch and ask for the RM who handled your former MB Financial relationship — many of those RMs are still at the same branch post-conversion.
- Did the 2019 MB Financial conversion to Fifth Third affect SBA 7(a) capability in the Chicago market?
- Yes, in a positive direction. Legacy MB Financial had a meaningful SBA 7(a) franchise in the Chicago metro but operated at smaller scale than Fifth Third's national SBA platform. Post-conversion, Chicago-area SBA-eligible merchants now access Fifth Third's top-20 SBA channel with: (1) higher SBA loan size capacity (up to $5M vs MB Financial's typical $1 – 2M range), (2) more efficient processing infrastructure with dedicated SBA underwriting teams, (3) CDC partnership network spanning Chicago, Cincinnati, Charlotte, and Atlanta for SBA 504 real-estate deals, and (4) the Express Business Loan channel for sub-$100K SBA-eligible needs that decisions in 24 – 72 hours. For Bluevine-eligible Chicago merchants whose capital need scales beyond Bluevine's $250K LOC cap, the Fifth Third / former MB Financial SBA path is structurally cheaper than non-bank alternatives and meaningfully expanded vs what legacy MB Financial offered.
- What's the realistic Bluevine-to-Fifth-Third trajectory for former MB Financial customers in Chicago?
- Most merchants who qualify for Bluevine today can qualify for Fifth Third in 12 – 24 months by: (1) hitting the 24+ months TIB threshold (just operational time), (2) maintaining Bluevine LOC with on-time payments to build PAYDEX and commercial FICO (Bluevine reports both), (3) reactivating or maintaining the Fifth Third Business Banking deposit relationship that was migrated from MB Financial in 2019 — even dormant accounts retain history value at the RM level, (4) keeping personal FICO at 700+ for margin above the 680 floor, and (5) ensuring business tax returns show consistent revenue growth and reasonable profitability. The former-MB-Financial-specific advantage: the multi-year MB Financial tenure (visible in the migrated Fifth Third RM system) provides a relationship-history signal that cold Fifth Third applicants don't have. Surface the MB Financial tenure explicitly in the Fifth Third loan application — it can move pricing 25 – 50 bps below cold-applicant quotes for borderline files in the Chicago market.