Rate desk
Where a personal loan rate comes from
Every APR on a loan offer sits on top of rates anyone can look up. These pages take the stack apart, one layer at a time.
The rates this desk explains
Checked
- FFR Fed funds target range
- 3.75%–4.00%
- No change: held; raised 0.25 pt on Sep 16 · set at the FOMC meeting of Oct 28, 2026 · source: Federal Reserve, FOMC statement, October 28, 2026
- PRIME Bank prime rate
- 7.00%
- No change: unchanged since Sep 2026 · on Nov 9, 2026 · source: Federal Reserve H.15 via FRED (DPRIME)
- PL24 24-month personal loan, bank average
- 11.90%
- Up: from 11.86% in Q2 · Q3 2026 survey, published Nov 6 · source: Federal Reserve G.19 Consumer Credit, November 6, 2026
- UST10 10-year Treasury yield
- 4.88%
- Up: from 4.86% the session before · close of Nov 9, 2026 · source: Federal Reserve H.15 via FRED (DGS10)
Published benchmarks and averages, not loan offers. Your APR depends on your credit, income, debts and the lender. How these numbers reach your loan
How a loan rate is built
From the Fed's overnight rate to the APR on your offer: the pieces a lender stacks together.
- SPREAD How personal loan rates are set The four layers inside an APR, where the Fed fits, and the part your credit file controls. Updated Nov 11, 2026
- FFR The federal funds rate and your loan The 2025–2026 path, how a move reaches cards and loans, and a quarter point in dollars. Updated Nov 11, 2026
- PRIME The prime rate explained Who sets prime, why it is the Fed's range plus three, and what a move does to a card APR. Updated Nov 11, 2026
- UST10 Treasury yields and loan rates Why fixed-rate lenders watch the 2- to 5-year yields, and what the curve's shape means for you. Updated Nov 11, 2026
- AVG Average personal loan rates The bank average since 2023, credit unions vs. banks, and how to read an average against your offer. Updated Nov 11, 2026
Timing, inflation and refinancing
When the rate cycle matters to a borrower, and when it does not.
- REAL Inflation and the real cost of borrowing Nominal vs. real rates, the latest CPI, and what 3.7% inflation does to a $10,000 loan. Updated Nov 11, 2026
- TIMING Borrow now or wait? The cost of waiting against the gain from a rate move, in dollars, with a decision checklist. Updated Nov 11, 2026
- REFI Refinancing a personal loan When a new loan saves money, what it costs, the break-even month, and the longer-term trap. Updated Nov 11, 2026