How the Fed rate hike affect loans, savings

Change won’t be huge for most consumers

With the Fed announcing another rate hike Wednesday, borrowing costs will head even higher for consumers. The good news is some bank customers will start to see noticeably higher savings rates.

Here’s how the move could affect consumers:

❚ Credit cards, HELOCS, adjustable-rate mortgages: These loans will become more expensive within weeks. Average credit-card rates are 17 percent, according to Bankrate.com. For a $10,000 credit-card balance, a quarterpoint hike is likely to add $25 a month in interest, according to Steve Rick, chief economist of CUNA Mutual Group.

Rates for home equity lines of credit are much lower at 5.92 percent. A quarter-point increase on a $30,000 credit line raises the minimum payment by just $6 a month.

Rates on adjustable-rate mortgages are modified annually. So the impact may be delayed, but then it could bite. Four quarter-point hikes in 2018 likely would boost the monthly payment on a

$200,000 mortgage by $84 to $112.

❚ Auto loans: A quarter-point rate hike theoretically would get passed on to new auto loans, increasing the monthly payment for a new $25,000 car by $3. Existing loans would be unchanged.

❚ Bank savings rates: Because banks will be able to charge a bit more for loans, they’ll have a little more leeway to pay higher interest rates on the deposits customers make. Don’t expect a fast or equivalent rise in your savings accounts or CD rates, many of which pay interest of 1 percent or less. Those rates have barely budged the past year despite the Fed’s hikes.