Questions: Using the unpaid balance method, find the current month's finance charge on a credit card account having the following transactions:
Last month's balance: 530
Last payment: 210
Annual Interest rate: 18%
Purchases: 293
Returns: 561
The finance charge is
(Round to the nearest cent)
Transcript text: Using the unpaid balance method, find the current month's finance charge on a credit card account having the following fransactio
Last month's balance: $\$ 530$
Last payment: \$210
Annual Interest rate: 18\%
Purchases: \$293
Returns: \$561
The finance charge is $\$$ $\square$
(Round to the nearest cent)
Solution
Solution Steps
Step 1: Calculate Unpaid Balance
The unpaid balance is calculated by subtracting the last payment from last month's balance:
\[
\text{Unpaid Balance} = 530 - 210 = 320
\]
Step 2: Adjust Unpaid Balance
Next, we adjust the unpaid balance by adding purchases and subtracting returns:
\[
\text{Adjusted Balance} = 320 + 293 - 561 = 52
\]
Step 3: Calculate Monthly Interest Rate
The monthly interest rate is derived from the annual interest rate:
\[
\text{Monthly Interest Rate} = \frac{18\%}{12} = 0.015
\]
Step 4: Compute Finance Charge
Finally, the finance charge is calculated by applying the monthly interest rate to the adjusted balance:
\[
\text{Finance Charge} = 52 \times 0.015 = 0.78
\]
Final Answer
The finance charge for the current month is \(\boxed{0.78}\).