The prime rate is??

Sometime the PRIME RATE is lowered by the FED, but the banks have a different EFFECTIVE DATE...



YES, TODAY PRIME IS 8.50%

 

Prime is indeed 8.5, and my banks are using 8.5 for prime.

 

The prime rate is what banks charge other banks to borrow money. This is not necessarily the same rate that you'll get when they say 'prime rate' ...

 

BANKS DON'T BORROW AT "PRIME RATE" they get about 3% lower...I think it is called FED FUNDS RATE.

 

If you have a variable APR, it will tell you where they get the prime rate from in your disclosure.

 

The Prime rate is not a fix number accross banks, some of them lower them faster than others when the Fed lowers rate. I think First Union was the first one to lower it this time. Look in the WSJ, that is usually the rate most rates are based on.

http://www.creditsense.com

 

Sorry, my mind was elsewhere when I originally answered this post ...

Officially, [the prime rate] is the interest rate that banks charge their biggest and best customers for short-term loans. (In reality, some borrowers are charged less or more, depending on various factors.) Because some other rates in the economy are based on the prime, and because it is considered a good indicator of the direction of rates generally, the prime rate (which is set by individual banks) is closely watched. Banks do not seem to change this rate lightly, and the way is often led by a regional bank rather than one of the big coastal money center institutions.