One of the main arguments against the Federal Reserve’s low interest-rate strategy in the wake of the Great Recession was the cost borne by savers.

But as the central bank slowly reverses that policy — with another quarter-point advance expected Wednesday — savers aren’t benefiting.

A look at a variety of savings vehicles, from certificates of deposits to savings accounts, shows that banks have not lifted what they pay to consumers as the Fed has increased interest rates.

According to data from RateWatch, the average interest paid on a 12-month CD with a minimum $10,000 deposit was 0.25% in May. That’s just 5 basis points higher than what was paid out four years ago, when the Fed’s primary interest rate was 9 basis points.

Also read:Live blog of rate decision and Yellen press conference

With expectations of a quarter-point rate increase on Wednesday, the central bank is expected to target a federal-funds rate between 1% and 1.25%.

Other key products also sport paltry interest rates that haven’t budged since the Fed started lifting interest rates. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the national rate on non-jumbo savings accounts of less than $100,000 was a mere 0.06% in May. Interest checking pays an even worse 0.04%. Even locking up money in a CD for five years gets a mere 0.81% return.

Also read:What a Federal Reserve rate hike would mean for your credit card and savings account

Banks in turn have been able to pad their bottom line. According to the FDIC, banks reported a profit of $44 billion in the first quarter, a 12.7% gain from a year earlier, mostly because net interest income increased. Only 4.1% of banks were unprofitable.

The meager interest rates come, ironically, at a time when consumers are locking up more into these accounts, perhaps as a result of being scarred by the recession. Households held $11.41 trillion in liquid assets during the first quarter, up from $7.47 trillion as the U.S. entered recession.

As a percent of total assets, households held 10.4% in checkable deposits and currency, time and savings deposits and money-market funds in the first quarter, compared with lows of 8.4% during the housing boom.

It’s fair to point out that banks sometimes are on the losing side. During the recession, banks paid as much as 1.94 percentage points more on a CD than the Fed’s primary interest rate.