How much money do I lose by paying only the minimum payment of the credit card

As of August 2026, the Government's plan to set a cap on consumer credit costs — including revolving credit cards — is structured through a draft bill on consumer credit, but that text has not yet been submitted to Congress as a bill. Therefore, the initiative is not in any formal parliamentary processing stage (neither admission for processing, nor amendment period, nor committee, nor report, etc.).

1. Origin of the “22% APR limit”

The reference to a limit around 22% for products like revolving credit cards comes from the draft of the new Consumer Credit Law approved in first reading by the Council of Ministers at the beginning of 2026. According to coverage by Demócrata and other specialized sources:

• The draft establishes a general regime of APR caps for consumer credits, calculated based on the market average rate plus an additional margin.
• Additionally, it sets a temporary maximum limit of 22% that would apply to new operations after the law comes into effect and also to the settlement of existing revolving credit card operations, as detailed in the legal analysis by Navas & Cusí cited by Demócrata.
• Associations like Asufin view positively that a cap is set “for the first time,” but consider that this 22 percentage point margin is insufficient and call for limits more aligned with the usual cost of each type of credit.

In other words, the 22% limit is not an already approved law nor an article of a current regulation, but a proposal included in a draft bill still within the Government's scope.

2. Actual stage of the draft bill: still within the Government

Parliamentary and press information indicates that the procedure is in the typical pre-parliamentary stage of draft bills:

• The Council of Ministers approves the draft bill and makes it public as the basis for a comprehensive reform of consumer credit, with caps on costs and interest (including revolving credit cards).
• The text is subjected to public consultation so that financial entities, consumer associations, law firms, employers' organizations, and individuals can submit comments. Demócrata reports that this process opened in January 2026, with a deadline until January 30.
• Simultaneously, reports from advisory bodies are gathered and technical and political adjustments are negotiated on sensitive points, such as the design of the caps and the specific treatment of high-cost credits.

All this happens before there is a “bill” in the strict sense. Until the Council of Ministers approves the text in second reading and submits it to the Cortes, there is no parliamentary processing.

3. Parliamentary situation: no bill registered yet

In the records of initiatives of the Congress and in the parliamentary agendas consulted, no specific bill on consumer credit or revolving credit cards clearly including that 22% cap as a central element appears:

• There is no title such as “Consumer Credit Bill” or equivalent with an entry date in 2026 that can be associated with this draft.
• What is observed is the Government's repeated announcement that the regulation will be sent to Congress “well into the year,” and several non-legislative motions on payday loans, mini-credits, and revolving credit cards, which are political initiatives without direct normative value.
• There are also other economic bills in processing or blocked (such as the law on credit administrators and buyers or the Financial Customer Defense Authority), but these are different texts.

Consequently, as of today, there is no bill on this 22% limit being processed by Congress and Senate; the debate is still within the Executive and in the political and media sphere.

4. Summary of the current stage

Using the strict terminology of the legislative procedure:

• The 22% APR limit for revolving credit cards is in a draft bill on consumer credit approved in first reading by the Government.
• That draft is in the public consultation and internal review phase, within the governmental scope.
• Parliamentary processing has not yet started: there is no bill registered in Congress, no qualification by the Board, no amendment period, nor plenary debates.

Therefore, to the literal question —“at what stage of parliamentary processing is it?”— the technical answer is that it is not yet in any parliamentary stage; it is in the prior draft stage within the Government, pending submission to the Cortes to begin its legislative journey.

In Spain, the Ministry of Economy (under its recent various names, such as the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation) does not directly grant or supervise consumer credits, but it does set the basic regulatory framework and financial consumer protection. It does so mainly through laws and regulatory rules on consumer credit contracts, banking transparency, and lending responsibility, in coordination with the Bank of Spain and other authorities.

1. General framework of competencies

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation is configured, according to ministerial restructuring royal decrees and organic structure (Royal Decree 2/2020, Royal Decree 139/2020 and its amendments, such as Royal Decree 798/2022 and Royal Decree 156/2022), as the department responsible for proposing and executing the Government's economic and financial policy. Within this scope are included:

• The regulation of the financial system and credit institutions.
• The regulation of banking services and products, including consumer credits.
• The protection of financial services clients and banking transparency.

Law 10/2014, on the regulation, supervision, and solvency of credit institutions (text in BOE) places prudential supervision of entities with the Bank of Spain, but within a normative framework defined by the legislator and Government regarding solvency, corporate governance, and discipline. In parallel, other transparency and consumer credit rules articulate the Ministry's normative role.

2. Regulation of consumer credit

The Law 16/2011, on consumer credit contracts (text in BOE) transposes Directive 2008/48/EC and sets the legal regime for consumer credits (loans, deferred payments, credit lines to consumers).

From this law derive several key competencies of the Ministry of Economy:

• Regulatory development: the law empowers the Ministry of Economy and Finance to approve technical rules, particularly on the formula and cases for calculating the Annual Percentage Rate (APR), so it can adapt to future changes in EU regulations.
• Definition of the protection level: Law 16/2011 coordinates with Law 2/2011 on Sustainable Economy, which imposes obligations for client solvency assessment and promotion of responsible lending. The Ministry designs this regulatory framework.
• Sanctioning regime: non-compliance by credit institutions is sanctioned according to the discipline and intervention regulations of credit institutions (Law 10/2014 and related rules), whose general design depends on the Government and its economic Ministry.

3. Transparency and protection of banking clients

The central piece is Order EHA/2899/2011, on transparency and protection of banking services clients (text in BOE), issued under article 48.2 of the former Law 26/1988 on discipline and intervention of credit institutions.

That provision expressly empowers the Minister of Economy and Finance to issue necessary rules to:

• Oversee relations between credit institutions and their clients.
• Guarantee maximum transparency in fees, interest rates, pre-contractual and contractual information.
• Regulate advertising of banking services and products, coordinating with Order EHA/1718/2010 on banking advertising.

Order EHA/2899/2011 explicitly relies on sectoral consumer credit regulations (Law 16/2011) and subsequent developments (such as Order ETD/699/2020 on revolving credit), thus consolidating the Ministry's role as regulator of transparency for consumer credits offered by credit institutions and other financial intermediaries.

4. Coordination with the Bank of Spain and other authorities

Although the Ministry issues transparency orders, the technical application and conduct supervision fall to the Bank of Spain, which issues circulars such as Circular 5/2012, on transparency of banking services and lending responsibility, and Circular 4/2021 on information and complaints. De facto:

• The Ministry sets the normative framework and transposes directives (consumer credit, payment services, mortgage credit).
• The Bank of Spain develops and applies technical criteria for transparency supervision and responsible lending.
• Through rules like Law 7/2017, on alternative dispute resolution in consumer matters (text in BOE), the Government defines which competent authorities accredit dispute resolution entities, coordinating with the ministries of consumer affairs and economy depending on the sector.

5. Representation of Spain in the EU and financial policy

Finally, the Ministry of Economy represents the State in European Union forums and international bodies where directives and regulations on:

• Consumer credit and mortgage credit.
• Payment services and financial consumer protection.
• Prudential regulation of credit institutions and banking union.

On this basis, it promotes bills and royal decree-laws for transposition and adapts ministerial orders, thus closing the circle between economic policy, banking regulation, and consumer defense in consumer credit matters.

Law 16/2011, on consumer credit contracts, expressly recognizes the consumer's right to early repayment (reimbursement) of their credit and sets the main requirements and limits in its article 30, in connection with pre-contractual and contractual information provisions (among others, articles 10, 16, and 18).

1. Basic right of early repayment

The Law establishes that the consumer may repay early, totally or partially, the obligations arising from the credit contract:

• At any time during the contract's life, without legal time limitation.
• Being able to make either a total cancellation or a partial amortization of the outstanding principal.

In case of early repayment, the consumer is entitled to a reduction of the total credit cost, which includes:

• The interest corresponding to the remaining period.
• Other associated costs for that period, even if already paid in advance.

That is, the consumer not only can pay earlier but must benefit from the elimination of financing cost for the “unused” credit time.

2. Form of exercise: communication and notice

Law 16/2011:

• Does not set a minimum notice period for early repayment.
• Does not impose a rigid form (e.g., official form) for the request.

In practice, the requirement is that the consumer expresses their intention to the lender in a medium that allows proof (paper, email, or other durable medium, according to what has been agreed and transparency regulations). The contract must indicate the applicable procedure for early repayment (articles on contractual information require informing about: the right to early repayment, the procedure, and, if applicable, the compensation and how to calculate it).

3. Compensation to the lender: when applicable and limits

The Law allows that, in certain cases, the lender may charge a compensation for early repayment, but subjects it to very strict conditions:

• It is only possible if the repayment occurs within a period when the interest rate is fixed.
• The compensation must be “fair and objectively justified”, for costs directly resulting from the early repayment.
• The law sets maximum caps:
  • 1% of the amount repaid early if the remaining period until contract end is more than one year.
  • 0.5% of the amount repaid early if the remaining period is equal to or less than one year.

Additionally, a general limit is established: in no case may the compensation exceed the amount of interest the consumer would have paid between the early repayment date and the originally agreed maturity date.

4. Cases where compensation cannot be charged

The Law expressly prohibits charging compensation for early repayment in the following cases:

• When the repayment is made in compliance with an insurance contract intended to guarantee the credit repayment.
• In the case of overdraft possibility (for example, credit lines linked to current accounts with possible negative balance).
• When early repayment occurs during a period in which no debtor interest rate has been set.

5. Refund of linked insurance premiums

Law 16/2011 adds a relevant requirement when the credit is associated with a linked insurance to the credit amortization or whose contracting was a condition to grant the credit or to grant it under certain conditions:

• Early repayment of the credit entitles the consumer to the refund of the unused portion of the premium by the insurance company.
• The specific conditions will be governed by the policy itself, but the right to that refund is legally imposed.

6. Practical summary

In summary, the key legal requirements for early repayment of consumer credits according to Law 16/2011 are:

• Consumer's right to repay totally or partially at any time the credit.
• Correlative right to a reduction of the total credit cost for the remaining time.
• Possible compensation to the lender only in fixed-rate credits and within the limits of 1% or 0.5%, and not exceeding the interest that would have accrued.
• Prohibition of compensation in the specified cases (insurance covering the credit, overdraft possibility, absence of fixed interest rate).
• Right to the refund of the unused portion of linked insurance premiums when there is linked insurance.
• Obligation for the lender to inform about this right, the compensation, and the procedure to exercise it in the contract itself.