Monthly repayments on a 10,000 loan
At 9.9% a year charged monthly, 10,000 over 60 months is 211.98 a month and 12,718.66 by the end. Shorten it to 36 months and the instalment rises to 322.20 while the total falls to 11,599.31, because interest is charged on what is still owed and a shorter term owes less for less time. Stretch it to 84 months and the interest more than doubles, to 3,901.46.
Month by month
| 1 | $211.98 | $82.50 | $129.48 | $9,870.52 | $82.50 |
| 2 | $211.98 | $81.43 | $130.55 | $9,739.97 | $163.93 |
| 3 | $211.98 | $80.35 | $131.63 | $9,608.34 | $244.28 |
| 4 | $211.98 | $79.27 | $132.71 | $9,475.63 | $323.55 |
| 5 | $211.98 | $78.17 | $133.81 | $9,341.82 | $401.72 |
| 6 | $211.98 | $77.07 | $134.91 | $9,206.91 | $478.79 |
| 7 | $211.98 | $75.96 | $136.02 | $9,070.89 | $554.75 |
| 8 | $211.98 | $74.83 | $137.15 | $8,933.74 | $629.58 |
| 9 | $211.98 | $73.70 | $138.28 | $8,795.46 | $703.28 |
| 10 | $211.98 | $72.56 | $139.42 | $8,656.04 | $775.84 |
| 11 | $211.98 | $71.41 | $140.57 | $8,515.47 | $847.25 |
| 12 | $211.98 | $70.25 | $141.73 | $8,373.74 | $917.50 |
An estimate, not financial advice. Figures are illustrative and depend on assumptions listed below. Check anything you plan to act on with a qualified adviser or the provider itself.
The worked example below, drawn. The balance falls slowly at first because the early instalments are mostly interest.
Going from 84 months to 36 nearly doubles the monthly instalment but cuts the interest from 3,901.46 to 1,599.31.
The term changes the monthly figure far more than the rate does. A percentage point on 10,000 over five years is about 5 a month.
A representative APR only has to be offered to 51% of the people who take the loan, so the rate you are quoted may be higher than the advertised one.
How it works
The formula
A rate charged on what is still owed:
i = r / 12 a yearly rate, interest charged monthly
i = (1 + r) ^ (1/12) - 1 an effective yearly rate (UK and EU APR)
payment = P x i / (1 - (1 + i) ^ -n)
A flat rate, charged on the original amount for the whole term:
interest = P x r x (n / 12)
payment = (P + interest) / n
The APR, recovered from the instalments by bisection. Find the monthly
rate j at which:
advance = sum over k = 1..n of payment(k) / (1 + j) ^ k
APR, nominal = j x 12
APR, compounded = (1 + j) ^ 12 - 1
where
r = the advertised rate, as a decimal
n = the term, in months
P = the amount borrowed plus any fee added to the loan
advance = the cash actually handed over, which excludes a financed fee
What it assumes
- Every instalment is paid in full, one month apart, with the first one a month after the money arrives. A lender that takes the first payment on the day of drawdown is charging a slightly higher APR than this shows.
- The rate is fixed for the whole term. A variable rate is not modelled, and neither is a promotional rate that ends part way through.
- An arrangement fee is added to the loan rather than paid up front, so it is repaid with interest over the term. That is exactly why it raises the APR rather than leaving it alone.
- Interest is rounded to the cent every month, the way a lender's ledger does it, and the last instalment absorbs whatever the rounding left behind. It is normally within a few cents of the others.
- On a flat-rate loan the interest is fixed on the day the loan is drawn, and it is spread evenly across the instalments here. A lender using the Rule of 78 front-loads it instead, which changes neither the total nor the monthly payment and matters only if you settle early.
- Payment protection insurance, late fees and early settlement charges are not included. Every one of them makes the real cost higher than the figure shown.
Common questions
Does the term or the rate matter more?
The term, for the monthly payment; the rate, for the total cost. Stretching 10,000 from three years to five cuts the monthly figure by about a third and adds most of a year of interest. Both are shown for exactly that reason — one is what you can afford, the other is what it costs.
Are arrangement fees included?
No. The arithmetic works on the amount borrowed and the rate, so a fee added to the balance should be typed into the amount and a fee paid separately is not part of this figure at all. A lender’s APR includes compulsory fees, which is one reason its number can exceed the rate you were quoted.
Sources
Method written and checked by Tessalor on Jul 30, 2026.
The full method, worked example and every assumption behind this figure are on Loan Repayment Calculator.