Credit Card Calculators
Converting a card purchase into instalments is the most expensive routine borrowing most people do, and the advertised rate is not the whole price.
Which credit card calculators should you use?
There is one calculator here, and it is here rather than under EMI for a reason: a credit card EMI is priced and taxed differently from every other instalment on this site.
Credit Card EMI Calculator works out the instalment on a conversion, and adds the two charges the advertised rate leaves out: the one-time processing fee, and 18% GST. That GST is the part worth knowing about. Entry 27 of Notification 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) exempts interest on loans and advances, then excludes "interest involved in credit card services" from the exemption - so home, car and personal loan interest carries no GST and card interest carries 18%.
Two things a conversion does that people do not expect. It does not free up your credit limit: the outstanding principal stays blocked and is released roughly one instalment at a time, which keeps your utilisation high for the whole tenure. And it is usually dearer than a personal loan for the same money once the fee and the tax are counted - worth checking against the personal loan calculator before converting anything large.
The guides explain the rest: GST on credit card EMI, why a card EMI blocks your credit limit, how to close a card EMI early and personal loan vs credit card EMI.
Guides for this
The questions these calculators cannot answer on their own.
- Personal Loan or Credit Card EMI?The real cost in India of converting a card purchase to EMI against taking a personal loan, including the processing fee and the 18% GST on it.
- GST on Credit Card EMI: What You Actually PayGST applies to the interest and the processing fee on a card EMI conversion. Where it lands, how much it adds, and why the advertised rate hides it.
- Why a Card EMI Blocks Your Credit LimitConverting a purchase to EMI does not free up your credit limit. How much stays blocked, how it unwinds, and what it does to your credit score.
- How to Close a Credit Card EMI EarlyWhat foreclosing a card EMI costs, when it saves money, and the one mistake that leaves you paying interest on a debt you thought you had cleared.
Reviewed by Pradipta Ray, Editor · Last updated