In: Finance
Josh needs $320 to pay off his cell phone. He can use his credit card, but the $320 payment will put him at his card limit. His other option is to take out a payday loan. His credit card has an annual rate of 16.8% compounded daily. The payday loan charges a daily rate of 0.75%. Calculate the cost of both options if he will pay both off when he receives his next pay cheque in 3 weeks.
Payment = $320
a. Credit card annual rate compounded daily = 16.8%
Thus, effective annual rate = ((1+16.8%/365)^365)-1 = 18.29% per annum or 0.0501% per day (18.29%/365)
Interest cost if credit card is used = Total Payment including Interest for 3 weeks - $320
Total Payment including Interest for 3 weeks = $320*(1+0.0501%)^21 (3 weeks equals 21 days (3*7 days a week)
= ($320*1.010574) = $323.3837
Interest cost if credit card is used = $323.3837 - $320 = $3.3837 or $3.38
b. Payday loan interest = 0.75% daily
Total interest cost for 3 weeks or 21 days = $320*0.75%*21 = $50.4
Josh should avoid taking payday loan and instead use his credit card as the payday loan cost ($50.4) is significantly higher than the interest on credit card which is only $3.38.
Payday loans are short term unsecured loans which are provided at very high interest rates to meet short term financial obligations. In the given question, the interest rate of pay-day loan is 0.75% daily which is substantially higher than the 0.0501% interest charged on credit card and this leads to the higher cost for pay-day loans.