The Fed Just Cut Rates — Here’s How to Make the Most of It (Plus: How to Freeze Your Credit)

The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee met this week and we've got a new interest rate environment.

Meaning what you pay on everything from credit cards to car loans will likely change.

And today we're going to explain how and why.

Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast, where you send us your money questions and we answer them with the help of our genius nerds.

I'm Sean Piles.

And I'm Elizabeth Ayola.

Later this episode, we'll be taking you through the process of freezing your credit and also outlining why it's a good idea.

But first, our weekly money news roundup, where we break down the latest in the world of finance to help you be smarter with your money.

Our news colleague, Ana Hilhoski, is with us to discuss a big meeting of the Federal Reserve this week.

And what does actions on interest rates mean for all of us?

Ana, what's the first thing we need to know about the Fed's decision yesterday?

Yeah, this was a really highly anticipated rate cut that the Fed just made.

So this is the first time in nine months that the Federal Reserve cut the federal funds rate.

And that's going to mean two things for your money.

Number one, borrowing is about to get cheaper, but your savings isn't going to earn as much.

So this is going to have an effect on loans, credit cards, savings accounts, and the broader economy.

But it's going to take some time to kick in.

And I think that's really important to say.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a press conference after the decision that he wasn't sure if one rate cut could have a visible effect on consumer activity.

But a strong economy combined with a strong labor market and stable prices should should be the thing that helps.

And that's what the Fed is aiming for.

Now, yesterday we got a quarter point rate cut.

Can you give us some background?

Tell us how we got here.

Back in 2022, the Federal Open Markets Committee, that's the FOMC, started raising the federal funds rate because inflation was out of control.

I think we all remember that.

And then they raised rates for 11 consecutive meetings and then stalled them for 14 months.

Then last year, starting in September, we had three rate cuts.

That brought the federal funds rate to 4.25% to 4.50%.

But there hasn't been a rate cut all year, and that's until now.

So the FOMC cut the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, and the new range is 4% to 4.25%.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell called the move a risk management cut in typically cryptic fashion.

What does that mean in plain language?

Yeah, data over the last couple of months has been pretty discouraging, actually.

The labor market, especially, is weakening and inflation is coming back, and that's fueled by tariffs.

So it's a really tricky place to be in.

And the Fed has to walk a tightrope, lowering rates to support growth, but they also don't want to reignite inflation.

Now, for months, President Trump has been pressuring the central bank to make a cut, but the Fed operates entirely independently, and they've emphasized that they're only driven by economic data.

All of the members weren't in agreement about what to do, right?

Yeah, there was one dissenting opinion among the FOMC, and that's its newest member, Stephen Myron.

He wanted a 50 basis point cut, so actually a much bigger cut.

Now, he was just appointed on Monday, and he is on an unpaid leave of absence from his position as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors.

So Nurnwald senior economist Elizabeth Renter said that, quote, dissent at the FOMC isn't unheard of.

It is unusual.

So Even without political pressures, the current economic conditions are pretty difficult to interpret.

And that's going to be be ripe for disagreements among Fed members about the right course of action moving forward.

So what else did Fed Chair Jerome Powell say during his press conference?

So he was asked whether the Fed should have acted sooner.

And he said, quote, we have to live life looking through the windshield rather than the rearview mirror.

Powell said there's starting to be more pressure on inflation, but the impact thus far has been pretty limited.

That being said, he described the labor market as in, quote, curious balance.

He said that normally balance is a good thing, but supply and demand have dropped a lot.

And right now, demand is falling pretty fast while unemployment is starting to tick up.

And Ana, what else does Elizabeth Renter say?

Elizabeth said that the FOMC made it clear that supporting the labor market is the higher priority compared to tamping down inflation, at least right now.

She said, quote, rates are typically cut when the labor market is slowing.

So this isn't a sign of a strong economy.

Rather, an attempt to ensure labor market cooling doesn't worsen.

Well, let's get to what this all means for consumers.

Can you give us some highlights here?

I think the most important thing to know is it's going to be cheaper to borrow.

When the Fed lowers the federal funds rate, banks will pay less to borrow from each other.

And banks respond by lowering interest rates on loans.

And that includes credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, personal loans, and more.

It'll also be cheaper to refinance.

So lenders may trim rates for those looking to refinance an existing mortgage, for example.

But there is a downside.

Savings aren't going to earn as much.

Annual percentage yields will fall on common savings products like high yield savings accounts, CDs, and interest-bearing check-in accounts.

And we also might see some market fluctuations.

Now, typically, cheaper borrowing can boost investor confidence and business expansion.

But if the rate cuts are perceived as a response to economic decline, then the markets could get more jittery.

And finally, I know we all want a crystal ball here.

During the press conference, Fed Chair Powell mentioned that there may be two more rate cuts this year.

Do you think that's really likely to happen?

It does seem that we will probably see more rate cuts this year.

Powell, of course, never commits to anything.

He said it's going to be on a meeting-by-meetings basis, but this economy is really unusual.

And he said that when it comes to future decisions, quote, it's not incredibly obvious what to do.

That said, the FOMC dot plot, which is a really fun visual showing how members of the FOMC expect interest rates to move, suggests that more cuts could be coming at the remaining meetings this year in October and December.

And the Futures Market CME Group's FedWatch tool backs that up, showing pretty strong odds of reductions at both meetings.

But Sean, Elizabeth, a lot is up in the air when it comes to both the labor market and price pressures.

Well, thank you for explaining that, Ana.

Yeah, no problem.

Up next, we answer a listener's question about credit freezes.

But before we get into that, a reminder, listener, to send us your money questions.

Maybe you want to know how you can leverage current rate cuts and how you can take out a a new loan.

Or maybe you're already planning ahead of 2026 and need help figuring out how to save for a home.

Whatever your money question is, leave us a voicemail or text us on the nerd hotline at 901-730-6373.

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In a moment, this episode's Money Question.

Stay with us.

We're back and answering your money questions to help you make smarter financial decisions.

This episode's question comes from a listener's text message.

Here it is.

I've been listening to Smart Money for a few months now and learning from the topics the show discusses.

I was curious to learn more about credit freezes.

If somewhere is running a soft credit check, like setting up internet service, should I have my credit frozen?

To help us answer this question, on this episode of the podcast, we are joined by Amanda Barroso, an authority on credit.

Hello, hello, Amanda.

Hey too, thanks for having me on.

Great to have you back as always, Amanda.

So let's start with a little credit freeze 101.

Can you give us the simple explanation of what a credit freeze is?

A credit freeze is like putting a big padlock on your credit reports.

Think about it as like that big lock that you're putting on your financial information.

So you have credit reports with Xperian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

Those are the three major credit bureaus here in the US.

And those reports show things like your loans, your credit cards, payment history, even things like previous addresses and employment history.

There's a lot there.

And so lenders will look at your credit reports when you apply for a credit card, a loan, or sometimes even a new phone plan.

And as the listener suggested, a utility company, they're setting up their internet service.

It's not uncommon for those companies to also look at someone's credit report.

So when you freeze your credit, you're telling the credit bureaus, again, the companies that are keeping these files, not to let anyone see them unless you say so.

So that way, if a scammer tries to open an account in your name, they can't because lenders can't check your report without your permission.

So there's kind of like this block there that prevents them from doing that.

The thing about credit freezes is you can unfreeze, or sometimes it's called thaw.

You can thaw your credit at any time.

If so, if you want to apply for credit, it's free to thaw it and it's free to freeze it.

And the other thing about this is that it doesn't hurt your credit score.

So really, there's a lot of security benefits all around.

And again, remember, it just makes it harder for identity thieves and scammers to use your personal information.

Well, since we're on the topic of identity fair, it is a big issue.

In 2024, the FTC received over 1.1 million identity theft reports online.

Now, this number could potentially be lower, I would assume, if people froze their credit more.

What are some scenarios where it makes sense, Amanda, to get your credit frozen?

Listen, every scenario, really and truly, NerdWallet recommends everyone freeze your credit.

Okay.

It's one of the easiest ways to protect yourself against identity theft and it's free.

Another huge, you know, it fits in the budget, right our personal information is probably out there for bad actors to steal we get emails and stuff all the time about data breaches and data leaks and it's only becoming more common so the only time you want your credit reports to be thawed or unfrozen is if you're about to make a big purchase like a car or a home purchase something like that well i'm curious to know now amanda how frequent or common are credit freezes this is a good question and it's a really hard one to answer because credit profiles are frozen and then thawed or unfrozen all the time, right?

People are switching that on and off depending on their financial activity.

And on top of that, there's not one place that measures this data.

But I did come across a public interest research group estimate that only 10 to 20% of consumers have frozen their credit files.

So that's just a really small chunk of American consumers.

That's a frustrating number because freezing your credit is so easy and it's one of the best protections against the fraud that we mentioned earlier because it's not whether your information is out there.

We should all assume that it is out there and that it's just a matter of time before someone tries to take advantage of it.

So please, everyone, just freeze your credit.

Amanda said, it's free.

It's easy.

So please do it.

All right.

So it's important to note that credit freezes are different from fraud alerts and also different from what's called a credit lock.

So why would someone choose one over another?

And can you just lay out what each of these things is?

There are a few key differences, and I think they're important to note because they sound like similar things, right?

But they're kind of performing different functions.

The first is a credit freeze.

So again, blocks all access to your credit reports, but a fraud alert just warns lenders to double check who is applying.

So for example, I got a notification through Experian or something that my information was found on the dark web.

So I could place a fraud alert just as a safety precaution to just let people know, hey, if somebody's trying to do something funky here, you need to let me know.

The second thing, a credit freeze must be lifted before you open a credit account, right?

So if I'm going to go open a credit card, my credit cannot be frozen.

That lender needs full access to my credit reports.

But with a fraud alert, it doesn't block you from applying.

So if you have that in place, you can still buy a car, buy a house, all these things.

It's not going to prevent you from doing that.

And the third thing is a credit freeze lasts until you remove it.

But a fraud alert.

typically lasts about one year.

That timeline might be extended to seven years.

If you are a victim of identity theft, they'll extend that for you.

It can be renewed after that year is up, but that's kind of the timeline that you're working with there.

I think the last thing that's important to know is that with a fraud alert, you can alert one of the credit bureaus and they'll contact the other ones on your behalf.

That's really nice, right?

But with credit freezes, and maybe this is sort of a blocker for people, you have to contact each bureau individually.

And the processes are similar, but not exact.

So you kind of have to pay attention to how they want you to go about that.

So the third kind of credit credit protection out there is one that's offered by the credit bureaus and it's called a credit lock.

This is a product for sale.

Most of the time it's for a monthly fee.

There's some cases where it's free and offers you the opportunity to lock and unlock your credit with the push of a button.

So if you have the Experian app or the TransUnion app or the Equifax app, you can go in and, okay, I want to make a buy now, pay later purchase.

I'm going to unlock my credit, make the purchase, let it go through, and then lock it back up.

And you're not beholden to sort of the timelines of the credit bureaus.

So you talked about how each of these forms of protecting your credit has its own function and purpose, right, Amanda?

And candidly, as best as I can determine, the function of a credit lock is to line the pockets of the credit bureaus.

That's my take on this, because credit freezes are free and locks are not free.

And you have to pay for it, and then you get less protection than you would with a credit freeze.

And I recently had to thaw my credit profiles out of applying for a new credit card.

And one of the credit bureaus was pretty aggressively pushing credit locks.

And I found the entire process really frustrating.

I actually couldn't navigate to the credit freeze page without Googling this credit bureau plus credit freeze and then I could get to it.

And for folks who might not know the difference between a lock and a freeze, it'd be really easy to select the wrong product and end up paying for something that you don't actually need to pay for.

And by the way, freezing and unfreezing credit doesn't take that long.

I unfroze all of my credit profiles at the three bureaus in under 10 minutes by going online.

You mentioned that it might be easier to go into an app and just unlock your credit with a button.

And that, again, to me is a form of malicious design from the credit bureaus.

They could make unfreezing just as easy, but then they wouldn't get money from you, right?

I think you're exactly right.

And I think having these credit lock and credit freeze kind of being so similar in name, people are thinking, because I'm paying for this service, maybe it's actually a better form of protection, right?

When we know it is really not.

It's worse.

Credit freezes are required by law to perform certain functions, whereas credit locks are not.

Sean, I think your point about like logging into your profile online and like having a hard time finding out where I'm supposed to go to actually unfreeze or freeze my credit, that's a real issue.

Pay attention to the language that's being used.

And again, for the free service that we are recommending here at NerdWall, you're going to look for credit freeze.

I'm going to do my confession of shame and tell you guys I do not have a credit freeze.

So

this speech, I know, I I know, but we listen and we don't judge.

That's true.

That's true.

I'm judging just a little bit, but you just correct this and that will be so great.

And let me tell you what I'm going to do.

I'm going to first correct it hypothetically.

So let's say I go ahead and get a credit freeze.

Amanda, tell us who can still access my credit report.

The listener wants to know whether they should have their credit frozen if a company is doing a soft credit check.

So would that impact their chances of being approved?

So first and foremost, you should know you will always be able to access your credit reports, even if your credit is frozen.

So that's really important to know.

There are other people who can access your frozen credit file and they are allowed to by law.

Like this isn't some malicious thing.

They're allowed to.

So for example, existing creditors that you have a relationship with, like credit card issuers or your mortgage lender are able to see your frozen credit reports.

Government officials might be able to see them if they're enforcing a court order, child support, something like that, or a warrant.

Insurance companies and utility providers are allowed to look at your frozen credit reports so they can kind of assess who they offer policies to, right?

They're looking at it and kind of getting a lay of the land there.

So a credit freeze won't prevent a company or even a potential employer from conducting a soft inquiry, which I think is what the listener is asking about.

These are, sometimes it's called like a soft pull.

This is when somebody's inquiring into your credit, but it's not going to ding your credit score.

It's not going to show up on your credit reports in the same way that a hard inquiry would.

So they should still be able to verify your credit and get the other information information that they need in a way that's not going to harm your score at all.

I think two of the best things that I've heard so far are one, that a credit freeze is free.

And two, as Sean said, well, it took him under 10 minutes.

So talk us through the steps, Amanda, of how to place a credit freeze.

So you need to reach out to each of the bureaus separately.

So again, these are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

Those are the three major ones, okay?

So each bureau has its own process.

And luckily, we have a guide on our website that has step-by-step instructions for each of the three bureaus.

So turn to the nerds, we've got you covered, follow our steps and we can get you to the end result pretty quickly.

You can freeze your credit by phone, by mail, or online.

Online is obviously the fastest method.

Sean was talking about that.

And you'll need similar information for all three bureaus.

So your social security number, your date of birth, your current address.

In some cases, you might need a copy of a government-issued ID or bank or tax statement, something like that.

Especially on the phone, they they might ask you for extra identifying information.

So you should just be prepared if you choose that method.

You might have to answer a few more questions.

And I would recommend folks do this online because it is just going to be so simple and fast once you have your account set up with the credit bureaus.

But I'm wondering about how long it might take for someone doing this on the phone or snail mail.

I imagine it'd be a lot slower than 10 minutes.

Yeah.

Okay.

So if you request a freeze by phone or online, the bureaus are required by law to place the freeze within one business day.

If you mail in your freeze request, the timeline is three days from when they receive it.

But please, please, please, if you choose the mail option, make sure you use certified mail so that you can get that confirmation that your request was received.

You know, you're putting some sensitive information in the mailbox.

So we just want to make sure that you know that it was received.

Okay, let's talk a little bit more about thawing, which I mentioned I did ahead of applying for a new credit card.

When I thawed my credit, I just had it thawed for one whole week just to give the the credit card company plenty of time to review my information.

Are there any other pieces of information that you think folks should know about credit thawing or would they need to have any other information on hand?

So if you've set up an account online or you have the app, which we highly recommend using the app because we know that apps are regularly updated for security measures, you can have a complex password that's saved in your phone and can even use biometric accessibility features to scan your face and get in there.

I know for me, that's a huge help because who can remember all these passwords, right?

The TransUnion app, the Equifax app, and the Experian app.

So once you have your account set up, login information is probably what you'll need to get in and unfreeze using the app or online.

If you are freezing your credit over the phone, again, date of birth, social security number, address are the most likely things you're going to be asked for.

And again, a one hour turnaround time if you are requesting a phone or online.

Probably online will be a lot faster than that, but I think they give themselves a little bit of wiggle room.

If you're mailing a request to each bureau, you're gonna have to follow the instructions provided by each bureau.

Again, we have step-by-step guides, links even to some of the forms.

Sometimes credit bureaus will have a printable form.

For example, Equifax has this that you'll have to download and complete and mail in along with the requested materials.

So you're gonna really wanna pay attention to any requirements like that before you, again, put that in certified mail and send it on its way.

Now, this all sounds like a pretty straightforward process to me, but what are some common pitfalls that people can avoid when doing a credit freeze?

One of the biggest mistakes is just like forgetting you need to freeze your credit at all three bureaus.

So you freeze it at Equifax, you think you're good, but something happens, somebody accesses your experience or trans union credit profiles and all of a sudden you're still left yourself vulnerable.

So making sure that you've got all three credit freezes in place is important.

I think another mistake is just like forgetting to thaw your credit before a purchase.

I mean, mostly that's just like an inconvenience.

You know, you go to purchase a new car, you're wheeling and dealing, right?

And the person goes back to like run your credit and see what kind of deal they can offer and they can't access that.

Just probably slows things down a little bit, but it can be a little bit frustrating.

Sean, you were saying you knew you were going to open up this credit card so you were able to go in, thaw your credit for a predetermined time.

upon which when that one week was over, the freeze automatically went into place.

Something like that kind of takes the mental load out of this.

Misplacing Misplacing passwords, especially if there's a data breach or something and you're in the habit of frequently changing your passwords, forgetting that password can also be kind of a hassle.

So a digital password manager or something like that is a good way to keep those complex passwords really protected.

I think the last thing is more just like a misunderstanding about what a freeze can do or what a freeze can protect you from.

A credit freeze doesn't prevent all fraud, right?

Like somebody could still get my credit card information and use my credit card and spend spend ten thousand dollars at the jewelry store or something like that right so you're still going to need to monitor your existing accounts like your credit cards for fraudulent purchases this is just preventing again people from opening new accounts in your name so again getting in the habit of checking your reports and checking those expenses frequently is gonna pair nicely with the freeze have you frozen your credit do you keep it frozen on the regular Listen, mine is frozen like Elsa up and frozen.

I have little small kids.

We are not letting it go.

We are shutting it down.

We are frozen.

Really and truly, most of my major purchases are like behind me.

I've bought a house.

We have two cars that we plan to just ride until the wheels fall off.

Being in the financial space, I frequently see how many data breaches and security breaches are happening.

You know, every few months, it seems like there's something else.

So I just like to keep it frozen for a little bit peace of mind.

And I get all my family members about it.

Every time I see my brothers and sister-in-law, I say, have you frozen your credit?

I'm like the grumpy old lady, but I do really think that it's, it's such an important and again, free way to give yourself a little bit of peace of mind.

And these days, free peace of mind does not come easy.

Absolutely.

And I think folks should think about credit as just a tool that they can deploy.

And when you're not using this tool, you want to make sure it's in a secure place, locked away so that people that you don't want to have access it can't access it.

You're exactly right, Sean.

Well, Amanda, thank you for coming on and telling us everything we need to know about credit freezes.

Well, I love coming and chatting with you guys.

Thanks for having me.

I'm sure we'll have you back on soon.

Thanks.

Remember, listener, that we're here to answer your money questions.

So turn to the nerds and call or text us your questions at 901-730-6373.

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Join us next time to hear about how you can support your aging parents if they don't have much saved for retirement.

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This episode was produced by Tess Wiglin and Anna Halhoski.

Hilary Georgie helped with editing.

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