In a surprise move that may have ramifications for your bottom line, the Federal Reserve announced Thursday that it is raising the discount rate (i.e. the rate that it charges on emergency loans to banks) by a quarter point, to .75%.

What does this mean to you? In the short term, not much. Consumer loans are not tied to the discount rate and it’s not the main vehicle for monetary policy. But in the long run expect to see a tightening of lending requirements (if you thought that was even possible) as banks will see less cheap and easy money from the government. Rates will also rise commensurate with the reduced liquidity.

In a statement released at the time of the policy change, the Fed said that “the modifications are not expected to lead to tighter financial conditions for households and businesses and do not signal any change in the outlook for the economy or for monetary policy.” However, this is a clear signal to the market that the government is comfortable enough in the fact that a recovery is underway and will look at the inevitable steps that have to be taken to restore a more normal fiscal policy.

One of those steps is curtailing how readily banks can run the Uncle Sam to get cash.  When markets are functioning properly, banks can easily get short-term cash from the commercial money market. Unfortunately the credit crisis and investment bank failures upended that model. So it’s actually a positive sign that the Fed thinks that it can ease up off the throttle starting soon.

While credit card rates are already at about the highest that card companies can get away with, the rates for mortgages (already at historic lows) and other secured credit will most certainly go up in the coming months and years.

A bigger step would be to increase the Fed funds rate, or the rate paid on excess reserves, but there is no concrete plan to do so in the near future.

A rising interest rate environment makes it even more critical to pay down debt that’s not at a fixed rate.  This means credit cards, adjustable-rate mortgages and lines of credit. Take this as an order to move even more aggressively to earn more, spend less and take control of your credit.