One of the most convenient means of payment today is plastic cards. The most popular among all the products offered by banks are credit cards. This is really incredibly convenient - you can make all purchases without thinking about the availability of money in your wallet. The bank provides installments for several tens of days. This allows the most rational use of all available income.
If you want the payment "plastic" to be not only convenient, but also profitable, you need to clearly understand the mechanism of its action. First of all, it’s worthwhile to understand how to set a minimum credit card payment.
What does the minimum deposit mean?
The owner of any credit “plastic” has certain obligations to a financial institution. Each month, a certain amount of money must be deposited into the “borrowed” account in order to at least partially repay the resulting debt. Payments are supposed to be made on time. This guarantees the solvency of the card holder and provides him with the opportunity to use a similar tool in the future.
This partial repayment of the amount of debt is called the minimum payment by credit card. Each financial institution sets a percentage and determines individual maturities. It is extremely desirable to comply with them, because if you miss the deadline for depositing funds, the bank has the right to apply penalties or charge a fine.
What determines the amount of payment
The credit institution stipulates this position with the borrower at the very first stage of the relationship - it is certainly prescribed in the contract. Most often, the minimum payment by credit card looks like a few percent of the amount of funds spent by a person in the previous period. Usually it is 5-10%, but it can be very different. The bank may set a fixed fee. You must pay it monthly no matter how much was spent. This is not very convenient, therefore, such a scheme of financial institutions is rarely used.
The minimum credit card payment in itself is heterogeneous and consists of several amounts:
- interest calculated on the amount of actual debt for the billing period;
- part of the loan already used by the borrower, based on the tariff;
- commissions and fees stipulated by the contract;
- the fine, penalty or penalty charged by the bank in case of default by the borrower of the terms of the contract.
"VTB 24"
Each financial institution offers its own conditions for calculating the minimum payment by credit card. VTB, for example, includes such amounts here:
- 3% of the debt available by the last business day of the month;
- aggregate interest for the previous billing period in accordance with the card rate.
The required amount must be paid before 18:00 on the 20th day of the month following the reporting one. If the client wants to save a little on interest, you should use a grace period of 50 days. If you return the money to the card during this period, then interest will not be calculated.
If you forgot to pay off the debt on time, but have a debit card from this bank, the financial institution will try to withdraw funds from there. In the event that this does not succeed, the bank will be forced to charge a penalty.
3-5 days before the “hour X”, the bank sends a reminder to its customers about the amount of debt, the minimum amount of funds and the need for their timely payment.
Tinkoff
If you want to have such a payment “plastic”, be prepared to pay a little more. The minimum payment by Tinkoff credit card is calculated individually and can reach 8%. Moreover, the amount of payment may not be less than six hundred rubles. This means that even if you spent less, you still have to pay.
Making timely payments on this card is highly desirable. Otherwise, penalties will be applied to the violator.
- for the first time, a financial institution will punish you for 590 rubles;
- a secondary violation will result in a fine of 590 rubles. + 1% of the actual amount of debt;
- those who fell into violation of the terms of payment for the third time will part with 590 rubles. + 2% of the debt.
Subtleties of the Savings Bank
The minimum credit card payment of Sberbank is calculated based on the final amount of debt. Most often, 5% of the total debt is calculated. This figure is the size of the smallest payment, which must be paid to the card by a certain date. Sometimes, however, a bank applies an individual scheme and sets a personal percentage for a particular client.
If, by the end of the period specified in the contract, the credit card did not arrive, the bank considers the obligations unfulfilled and charges a penalty of up to 37%.
How and where to find out the exact amount
How do I know the minimum credit card payment? There are several options:
- First of all, you can contact any branch of your bank. Do not forget to take a passport, otherwise it will not work.
- If your lending institution provides the opportunity to use Internet banking or special mobile offers, all information can be obtained without leaving home. Just turn on the computer, go to the page of your personal account on the bank’s website and get all the necessary information.
- Connect SMS informing. Today, many banks provide this opportunity. So you will always be aware of exactly when and how much you need to make.
- To find out what the minimum payment by credit card is required in the current month, you can call the bank hotline. After talking with the operator and identifying yourself as the owner of the card, you can ask him all your questions. Sometimes the system provides the ability to put the conversation in tone mode and navigate according to system prompts.
- Many financial institutions provide the ability to connect a monthly electronic newsletter. A written notification will be sent to your e-mail with details of expenses on the card and the amount of the minimum payment.
If none of the methods suits you or if you doubt the accuracy and correctness of the indicated amount, you can make the calculations yourself.
Percentage of Debt Calculation
If you have a calculator and a loan agreement, you can independently calculate the minimum payment amount. First you need to know what it consists of:
- amount of principal debt;
- interest accrued for the use of money;
- fine or penalty, if any.
There are 2 main options on how to calculate the minimum credit card payment:
- as a percentage of existing debt;
- by the amount actually spent by the client.
First, consider the first option. This method is used by many banks, it is very popular.
For example:
- the card has a spending limit of 100 thousand rubles and a rate of 15% per annum;
- over the past month (30 days), the client spent 23 thousand rubles;
- the contract provides for a minimum contribution of 6% of the amount owed.
Given all these parameters, calculating the amount is quite simple:
- 23 000 x 6% = 1 380 - the amount of the main debt;
- 23,000 x (20%: 365 x 30) = 378 - accrued interest;
- 1 380 + 378 = 1 758 rub. - minimum payment.
How much you take, how much you put
This method of paying off credit cards is the most primitive and understandable for owners. Everything is very simple here: before the end of the month you must return to the card account the entire amount spent in the previous period, and also pay a percentage for using borrowed funds.
If you use the data from the above example, it looks like this:
- 23 000 - the amount spent in the previous period;
- 23,000 x (20%: 365 x 30) = 378 - accrued interest;
- 23,000 + 378 = 23,378 rubles. - the full amount of the next installment.
After making the payment, the client again opens a limit of 100 thousand rubles and he can again use the credit "plastic".
Do not count yourself
Although it seems nothing complicated in the calculations, in practice it turns out that it is not always possible to correctly calculate the amount of the minimum payment independently. Many banks set a grace period, for example 55 days, during which interest is not accrued at all. In this case, calculating everything yourself is extremely difficult. After all, you need to track each spending, correctly calculate the grace period for it and determine from which date you need to accrue interest.
If you withdraw cash from the card, the percentage will also change, most often it becomes higher. If you paid with a card at an ATM of an institution that is not a partner of your bank, you will most likely be charged an additional fee. There are also many other subtleties.
For this, financial institutions organize entire departments where everything is counted and controlled by automation. Therefore, if for some reason you doubt the correctness of the calculated amount of the minimum payment, it is easiest to contact the bank and request a detailed printout with the calculation. The manager will explain in detail how and where each extra penny, in your opinion, came from.