For the second year in a row, KeyBank joins Entrepreneur magazine's list of Top Franchise Suppliers, ranking the regional bank among some of the best in the nation to empower franchisees to launch, grow, expand or evolve their businesses. This year, KeyBank was ranked eighth in the Franchise Finance Category.

"With so many businesses today facing uncertainty, it is important the franchising industry has partners it can rely on," said Jim Fliss, Senior Vice President and leader of KeyBank's SBA and Franchise businesses. "With the continued growth in our industry partnerships, we made investments this year to grow our Franchise Finance Team to ensure we can continue to deliver an unparalleled level of service through our specialized franchise sales, underwriting and loan closing professionals."

KeyBank's specialized Franchise Finance Team offers a full range of banking solutions to franchised businesses providing a holistic approach in helping clients. Offerings include solutions for startup, multi-and single-unit operators, merchant and treasury capabilities, commercial banking, investment banking, and Key4Women to support woman-owned businesses.

To develop the rankings, Entrepreneur magazine surveyed more than 700 franchisors on their satisfaction with quality, cost and value of each supplier. The ranking comes from a healthy amount of data to truly find those who are excelling in the field.

"This recognition continues to be a source of pride as it is a testament to the hard work of our dedicated teams and validation that we are delivering on our promises.  Helping clients and communities thrive is at the heart of everything we do at Key. Franchising has proven to be a resilient industry and accordingly we have built a significant amount of optimism into our future outlook," said Fliss.

KeyBank has been a consistent top SBA performer and is currently the nation's eighth largest SBA 7(a) lender. In addition, KeyBank is an industry leader in administrating the SBA's Payroll Protection Program, helping over 40,000 individual businesses across the nation obtain access to capital during the global pandemic.