This question illustrates what is known as discount interest. Imagine you are discussing a loan with a somewhat unscrupulous lender. You want to borrow $27,000 for one year. The interest rate is 13.2 percent. You and the lender agree that the interest on the loan will be .132 $27,000 = $3,564. So the lender deducts this interest amount from the loan up front and gives you $23,436. In this case, we say that the discount is $3,564. What is the effective interest rate?