A 12.9% loan with a 5% origination fee is not a 12.9% loan. Run the payment against the cash you actually receive and the real number appears.
You have $18,000 sitting on a card at 22.9%, and you can put $600 a month at it. A lender emails offering a three-year personal loan at 12.9% with a 5% origination fee. Nearly everyone answers this by feel. It is answerable with arithmetic in about four minutes.
— Educational, not financial advice.