A financial company, No Mercy Inc., earns an effective annual rate of 16.78% on its credit card offering. If interest is compounded monthly, what APR (Annual Percentage Rate) monthly compounding must No Mercy charge to its customers?

Another company, Pure Greedy Inc., charges 16.00% APR compounded quarterly for its credit card with comparable benefits (travel points, no annual fee, cash back, etc.).

You are looking to apply for a credit card. Assuming you only have 2 choices, No Mercy or Pure Greedy, which one will you choose? Please explain why.