The minimum payment for credit cards will increase on August 1, to 2.5% of the balance.
This is the first half-point increase provided for by the Consumer Protection Act, in order to increase the minimum payment in 2025 to 5%.
This measure applies to credit card contracts signed before August 1, 2019. New contracts are already subject to the minimum payment of 5%.
As an example, for a card with a balance of $ 1,000 and 19.9% interest rate, repayment with minimum payments at 2.5% would take 14 years and 7 months and $ 1,443.99. interests. At 5% of the amount, the repayment would be in 6 years and $ 441.87 in interest.
The Office de la protection du consommateur reminded that the purpose of this increase is to prevent over-indebtedness and that people who have difficulty making these payments should consider it as a signal to seek advice from personal finance specialists who work within consumer associations.
–
