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A fixed-rate loan uses the annuity formula: payment = P × r × (1 + r)^n ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1), where P is the amount borrowed, r is the annual rate divided by the number of payments a year, and n is the number of payments. For 10,000 at 12% over 36 months, r is 0.01 and 1.01^36 is about 1.430769, so the payment is 10,000 × 0.01 × 1.430769 ÷ 0.430769, which is 332.14 a month. Each payment covers that period's interest first, and the rest reduces the balance.

EMI stands for equated monthly instalment, the term banks and borrowers in India use for the fixed monthly payment on a loan. It is the same number a US or UK lender calls the monthly payment, worked out with the same formula. A ₹5,00,000 personal loan at 10.5% for five years has an EMI of about ₹10,747, with about ₹1,44,817 of interest over the 60 months.

The interest rate is what the lender charges on the balance you owe. The APR, or annual percentage rate, also counts certain upfront fees, so it reflects what borrowing really costs. Borrow 10,000 at 10% over 36 months with a 2% fee and you receive 9,800 but repay as if you had received 10,000, so the APR comes out at about 11.39%. Which fees a lender has to include depends on the country and the type of loan, so compare APRs from the same kind of disclosure.

Interest is charged on the balance you still owe, so anything that cuts the balance early cuts every interest charge after it. Here an extra payment goes entirely to principal and the regular payment stays the same, which ends the loan sooner. On 25,000 at 9.5% over three years, 100 extra a month plus a 2,000 lump sum in month 12 saves about 806 in interest and seven payments. Check first whether your lender charges for paying early; some do.

A longer term lowers each payment but keeps the balance outstanding for longer, so you pay more interest overall. Borrowing 10,000 at 12% costs 470.73 a month and 1,297.63 in interest over 24 months, 332.14 a month and 1,957.15 over 36 months, and 222.44 a month and 3,346.67 over 60 months. The comparison panel shows the same trade for your own loan.

It is the table of every payment over the life of the loan, split into the part that pays interest and the part that reduces the balance, with the balance left after each one. Early payments are mostly interest because the balance is at its largest; by the end almost all of each payment is principal. You can read the schedule here by year or payment by payment and download it as CSV.

Run the payment formula backwards: amount = payment × (1 − (1 + r)^−n) ÷ r. At 9% a year over 48 months, 300 a month repays a loan of about 12,055, with roughly 2,345 of the 14,400 you pay going to interest. The reverse-solve panel does this at whatever rate and term you have entered. Lenders also weigh your income, other debts, and credit history, so treat the figure as the most that payment can carry, not as what you will be offered.

At 0% the formula would divide zero by zero, so the payment is simply the amount divided by the number of payments: 25,000 over 36 months is 694.44 a month, and you repay exactly what you borrowed. A 0% offer can still cost money through fees; a 500 arrangement fee on that loan gives an APR of about 1.32%. Some promotional offers also charge interest back to the start if the balance is not cleared in time, so read the terms.

Most lenders round each payment to the cent and adjust the final payment to match; rounding on its own moves the figures by a few cents a payment. Many lenders also work out interest daily rather than monthly, so a 31-day month costs a little more than a 28-day one, and the first payment can be larger or smaller when it falls more or less than one full period after the money is paid out. Daily interest and the date of the first payment can move each payment's split between interest and principal by more than rounding does, often a few dollars a month, and can change the size of the final payment. The fees a lender charges, and whether it adds them to the balance, usually matter far more.

A little, because the balance falls slightly sooner. On 25,000 at 9.5% over three years, monthly payments cost 3,829.65 in interest, fortnightly payments 3,776.83, and weekly payments 3,754.17. The bigger saving people associate with biweekly plans comes from paying half the monthly amount every two weeks, which adds up to 13 monthly payments a year instead of 12. That is really an extra payment, and you can model it here with the extra-payment field.