A local department store offers 24-month financing for a certain $1,000 appliance at an “interest rate of 9% per year”. The 24 equal end-of-month payments are computed as follows:
Principal: $1,000 Interest at 9% per year = (0.09)(1000)(2) = $180 Credit investigation fee = $18.08 Total to be repaid = $1,198.08 Monthly payments = $1,198.08 / 24 = $49.92
a. What is the effective annual interest rate a customer would actually pay for this financing?
b. What is the nominal annual interest rate compounded monthly for this financing?