The Prime Rate is the interest rate that banks use as a basis to set rates for different types of loans, credit cards and lines of credit. Certain mortgage rates, like variable rate mortgages, home equity loans and home equity lines of credit, may also be affected by the published rate.
Each bank sets its own Prime Rate. For example, for consumer products, Commerce Bank uses the U.S. Prime Rate published in The Wall Street Journal in its column called "Money Rates," and this is the rate shown above. The rate published in The Wall Street Journal is based on the Federal Reserve’s federal funds rate. The U.S. Prime Rate is not always the lowest, the best or the favored rate of interest. Banks use different methods to determine what is the applicable rate of each product and when adjustments will be made. Please see your Commerce Banker for more information.
Since the rate is used by most banks as the baseline interest rate, any increases or decreases will cause your adjustable-rate mortgage payments to fluctuate with it. Any new loan applications will also be affected to reflect the new loan rate. After times of high mortgage rates, if the rates decrease, some homeowners choose to refinance their loans to receive a lower rate.