BANKING

More Banks Raise Lending Rates to 6.25%: Additional major banks matched the industry’s trendsetters and raised prime lending rates following this week’s offensive by the Federal Reserve aimed at staving off inflation. Consumers should feel the pinch of a higher prime rate because interest rates on many credit cards, mortgages and small-business loans linked to this figure will rise. On Wednesday, Citicorp’s Citibank, the nation’s largest bank, led a string of major banks raising the prime rate. Many banks followed Thursday, including BankAmerica Corp., Wells Fargo, Mellon Bank, NationsBank and Union Bank.