Small businesses, wave goodbye to more than $10 billion in small business loans.

The 22 banks that got the most help from bailout programs — including banks such as Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp. and U.S. Bancorp – collectively cut their small business loan balances by $10.5 billion over the past six months, according to a Treasury Department report cited by CNNMoney.com.

Fifteen of the 22 banks reduced their business loan balances since April, three made no small business loans at all, and four increased their balances.

Wells Fargo, though still the bank with the largest balance with $73.8 billion in small business loans, cut its portfolio by $3 billion. Bank of America is the next closest to Wells Fargo, with a small business loan balance of $41.9 billion.

JP Morgan Chase Co., despite reducing its small business loan balance by 2.5 percent over the past six months, plans to hire additional small business specialists and announced last week it would increased its small business lending by $4 billion this year, according to CNNMoney.com.

According to the report, small business defaults are on the rise, and banks, which are still trying to shore up their balance sheets, are trying to avoid exposure to risky loans. As a result, lending remains very tight for businesses and a record number of small businesses are reporting difficulty in obtaining credit, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech Monday.

Bernanke also said that if businesses continue to be shut out from access to credit, it will be hard for many small and medium-sized businesses to consider expanding, and will prevent the formation of new businesses.