Hand-to-Mouth (H2M) is currently cash-constrained, and must make a decision about whether to delay paying one of its suppliers, or take out a loan. They owe the supplier $10,000 with terms of 2/10 Net 40, so the supplier will give them a 2 % discount if they pay by today (when the discount period expires). Alternatively, they can pay the full $10,000 in one month when the invoice is due. H2M is considering three options:

Alternative A: Forgo the discount on its trade credit agreement, wait and pay the full $10,000 in one month.

Alternative B: Borrow the money needed to pay its supplier today from Bank A, which has offered a one-month loan at an APR of 12%. The bank will require a(no-interest) compensating balance of 5% of the face value of the loan and will charge a $100 loan origination fee. Because H2M has no cash, it will need to borrow the funds to cover these additional amounts as well.

Alternative C: Borrow the money needed to pay its supplier today from Bank B, which has offered a one-month loan at an APR of 15%. The loan has a 1% loan origination fee, which again H2M will need to borrow to cover.

Alternative A: The effective annual cost is _____%.

Alternative B: The effective annual rate is _____%.

Alternative C: The effective annual rate is ______%.

(Select the best choice below.)

A. Alternative A, with the lowest effective annual rate, is the best option for Hand-to-Mouth.

B. Alternative B, with the lowest effective annual rate, is the best option for Hand-to-Mouth.

C. Alternative C, with the lowest effective annual rate, is the best option for Hand-to-Mouth.

D. All the alternatives are equivalent.