Final answer:
The effective annual rate is approximately b. 19.41% for the given credit card agreement.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the effective annual rate, we'll use the formula:
(1 + r/n)^n - 1
Where r is the nominal interest rate and n is the number of compounding periods per year.
In this case, the nominal interest rate is 1.5% per month, which is equivalent to 18% per year (since there are 12 months in a year).
Plugging in the values into the formula:
(1 + 0.18/12)^12 - 1 = 0.1941 ≈ 19.41%
So, the effective annual rate is approximately 19.41%.