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Credit Card Payoff Calculator: Netherlands

See how long a credit card takes to pay off at your APR, the interest it costs, what minimums really cost, and the payment to be debt-free by a date.

Reviewed by CentExactRates effective 1 sourceCalculated in your browser. Shared links include inputs.

Netherlands: a cap set by decree, and it binds

The Netherlands caps consumer credit by decree. The maximale kredietvergoeding is the statutory interest rate plus 8 percentage points, and it covers not just interest but the whole compensation a lender may charge for the credit, so fees cannot be used to get around it. The surcharge used to be 12 points; it was cut to 8 as a temporary pandemic measure in August 2020 and then kept, so the ceiling is permanently tighter than it was before 2020. Because the statutory rate is reset every six months against the ECB, the ceiling moves with it: check the current figure before assuming the rate you have entered is lawful.

Unlike the soft ceilings in Germany and Spain, this one binds in practice. Dutch revolving credit is priced right up against it, which is why the typical rate here is well below the American norm and why the gap between a good card and a bad one is small. It also means the calculator's warning about exceeding the ceiling is a real constraint rather than a caution: a Dutch doorlopend krediet simply cannot charge above it.

Revolving credit is tightly regulated in other ways too. Lenders must run an affordability check and register the credit with the BKR, and under pressure from the AFM most Dutch lenders have stopped writing new doorlopend krediet at all and have moved existing customers onto loans that actually amortise rather than lines that can run indefinitely.

Issuers typically require about 2% of the balance a month, with the interest taken from within it and a floor of about €25.

For how the calculation works, the formula behind it and what it leaves out, see the full guide. For help interpreting a result or comparing it with a quote or statement, read the questions and answers.

Data sources

Dutch consumer finance conventionsSVBWithin its effective period

Every document each dataset was read from, its notes and how the figures were checked are listed in the guide's data sources.

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Each country has its own rates, thresholds and rules, and its own page that runs the calculator on them and cites the official sources they came from.

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CentExact publishes the calculation method, worked examples and available data sources. Automated checks cover reference calculations; they do not certify a result for your circumstances or imply approval by a lender or tax authority.

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This calculator is for general information only and is not financial advice. Results are estimates based on the figures you enter and the stated formula; lenders and providers may round or calculate differently. Check any decision with the institution involved or a qualified adviser.