to pay the loan originators

Beyond what Tammy Lankford, shared, I'd ask Jason E. Gordon if you want the details of why, but Tammy summed it up. Everybody needs to get paid or why would they do the work?

Tammy Lankford, nailed this one! 

What Tammy Lankford, said!

Well . . . since no one works for free . . . the loan originators do need to be paid!

closing costs are called different things by different folks.   find a preferred lender and aske them that question

For the buyer? It remains a path one must travel and pay for the privilege to proceed with buying a home. For the industry, it provides a living to those in the business. When loans become too easy to procure, these fees diminish

Tammy Lankford, nailed this one!

I think Tammy Lankford, got it right!

They either lower the Interest Rate or merely increase the Lenders Profit 

Best answer from Richie Alan Naggar 

Folks need to get paid to handle all the paperwork.

Lenders need revenue to stay in business, but often call their fees by different names. Whatever they wish to call their fees, they must be listed in "Box A" of the Loan Estimate to allow a consumer to make an apples-to-apples comparison if they are shopping lenders...especially if those lenders label their fees differently. Box A is called "Origination Fees" (so any fees that are itemized in that box can be construed as Origination Fees)

Basically, for bank profits. It lowers your APR, but if you do the numbers, the upfront charges don't make sense.