How it works
- 01
Enter the loan
Enter the amount, the annual rate and the term, then pick monthly, fortnightly or weekly payments.
- 02
Add any overpayment
A regular extra amount shortens the term and cuts the interest.
- 03
Read the schedule
The schedule splits every payment into interest and principal. You can download it as a CSV file.
What the payment is made of
A repayment loan splits every payment between interest and principal, the amount you borrowed. The lender charges interest on the balance you still owe. So early payments are mostly interest and bring the debt down slowly. As the balance falls, less interest builds up, and more of the same payment goes to the principal.
An overpayment lowers the balance that future interest is charged on. Paid early, it has longer to cut the cost of the loan than the same amount paid near the end. It shortens the term and lowers the total interest.
- Types
- Repayment and interest-only, monthly, fortnightly or weekly.
- Rate
- Nominal annual rate, divided by the number of payments a year.
- Overpayments
- A recurring extra amount on top of every payment.
- Not included
- Fees, insurance and taxes. Add those separately.
Reading APR carefully
The interest field takes the nominal annual rate and divides it across the payments in a year. An advertised APR is for comparing loans, and it can include required fees and the timing of charges. So if you enter an APR here, the payment may not match a lender's quote.
Use the rate in your contract for the payment, then add fees separately when you compare the overall cost. The calculator rounds each amount to the penny or cent every period. The last payment takes up that rounding, as lenders do, so the loan never ends with a few pence still owed.