The minimum payment had nearly octupled overnight
Durante décadas, millones de chilenos creyeron estar cumpliendo con sus deudas al pagar el mínimo mensual de su tarjeta de crédito, sin saber que ese gesto apenas rozaba los intereses y dejaba el capital intacto por quince años. La Comisión para el Mercado Financiero ha decidido poner fin a esa ilusión: a partir de junio de 2026, los bancos deberán exigir pagos mínimos que cubran la totalidad de los cargos no capitales más el cinco por ciento del saldo real. Es una corrección estructural que llega con alivio a largo plazo y con golpe inmediato al bolsillo, recordándonos que lo que parece manejable no siempre es honesto.
- Los pagos mínimos de tarjetas de crédito podrían multiplicarse casi ocho veces de un mes a otro, pasando de cerca de $10.000 a más de $78.500 para un deudor típico.
- La norma elimina el modelo de pago mínimo del 1% que beneficiaba silenciosamente a los bancos al mantener las deudas vivas durante quince años mientras los intereses se acumulaban sin freno.
- Familias de clase media y baja enfrentan una presión presupuestaria inmediata en un momento en que la economía chilena ya exige sacrificios cotidianos.
- La CMF incorporó una válvula de alivio: quienes acrediten dificultad económica pueden diferir hasta dos meses de pago, aunque la deuda se reestructura en un plazo máximo de 24 meses, sin condonación.
- El horizonte de endeudamiento se contrae de 15 años a 5, ahorrando a los consumidores millones de pesos en intereses, aunque el camino hacia ese ahorro exigirá ajustes dolorosos en el corto plazo.
A partir de junio de 2026, la Comisión para el Mercado Financiero obliga a los bancos chilenos a reformular el cálculo del pago mínimo de tarjetas de crédito. La nueva Norma de Carácter General N° 537 exige que ese mínimo cubra el cien por ciento de todos los cargos no capitales —intereses, seguros, comisiones e impuestos— más al menos el cinco por ciento del saldo adeudado. El cambio es inmediato y concreto: alguien con un millón de pesos de deuda y $30.000 en cargos mensuales pasará de pagar cerca de $10.000 a deber aproximadamente $78.500 cada mes.
Durante años, la mayoría de los bancos y casas comerciales fijaron sus propios criterios, y casi todos convergieron en torno al uno por ciento del saldo. Esa cifra parecía razonable, pero ocultaba una trampa: apenas alcanzaba para cubrir los intereses, dejando el capital prácticamente intacto. El propio análisis de la CMF revela que, bajo ese esquema, el deudor promedio tardaba quince años en liquidar su saldo. Con la nueva regla, ese plazo se reduce a cinco años, y el ahorro en intereses se mide en millones de pesos.
El regulador anticipó el impacto sobre los hogares más vulnerables e incorporó un mecanismo de alivio: quienes demuestren dificultad económica real podrán solicitar la postergación de hasta dos pagos consecutivos. Sin embargo, la deuda diferida no desaparece; se reestructura en un plan de hasta 24 meses. Es una pausa, no un perdón.
La norma llega en un momento de tensión económica para las familias chilenas, que ya enfrentan decisiones difíciles sobre qué pagar y qué postergar. Algunos hogares recurrirán a la exención por dificultad; otros recortarán gastos para cumplir con la nueva obligación. De cualquier forma, la era del pago mínimo invisible —ese que se sentía inocuo precisamente porque era inútil— ha llegado a su fin. Lo que sigue es más rápido, más exigente y, en el largo plazo, más justo.
Starting in June 2026, Chile's financial regulator is forcing a reckoning with credit card debt. The Comisión para el Mercado Financiero—the CMF—has issued a new rule that fundamentally changes how banks calculate the minimum payment you owe each month. For millions of Chileans who have been scraping by on the smallest possible payment, the shock will be immediate and substantial.
Until now, each bank and retail company set its own minimum payment formula, and most settled on roughly 1 percent of what you owed. The math seemed manageable. But there was a trap built into the simplicity: that 1 percent barely covered the interest charges accumulating on your balance. You could pay faithfully for years and watch your debt barely budge. The principal stayed frozen while the bank collected its interest. It was a slow financial quicksand, and it worked perfectly for lenders.
The new rule—Norma de Carácter General N° 537—eliminates that discretion. Banks must now calculate the minimum as 100 percent of all non-principal charges (interest, insurance, commissions, taxes) plus at least 5 percent of the actual debt itself. Take a concrete example: someone carrying a $1,000,000 balance with $30,000 in monthly charges. Under the old system, they might have paid a minimum of around $10,000. Under the new rule, that same person now owes approximately $78,500. The minimum payment has nearly octupled.
For households already stretched thin, this is a jolt. But the long-term mathematics tell a different story. Under the old 1 percent minimum, the CMF's own analysis shows the average cardholder took 15 years—180 months—to pay off their balance. With the new 5 percent requirement, that timeline collapses to 5 years, or 60 months. The difference in interest paid is measured in millions of pesos. What felt like a manageable monthly burden was actually a decades-long extraction of wealth.
The CMF understood the immediate pain this would cause. The regulator built in a relief valve: if you can demonstrate genuine economic hardship, banks must allow you to skip payments for up to two consecutive months. But there is a condition. Any deferred debt gets restructured into a repayment plan with a maximum term of 24 months. It is not forgiveness. It is a pause, followed by acceleration.
The timing matters. Chile's economy is already under strain, and middle-class families are already making difficult choices about what to pay and what to defer. This rule arrives as a forced intervention into those calculations. Some households will find the new minimum simply unaffordable and will need to use the hardship exemption. Others will cut spending elsewhere to meet the higher obligation. Either way, the era of the invisible minimum payment—the one that felt painless because it was actually pointless—is over. What comes next is faster, harder, and ultimately fairer, though the transition will feel anything but fair to those living paycheck to paycheck.
Citas Notables
Under the old system, the average cardholder took 15 years to pay off their balance. With the new requirement, that timeline collapses to 5 years.— CMF analysis
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did banks get to set their own minimums in the first place? Wasn't that always going to end badly for borrowers?
It was legal, and it was profitable. A 1 percent minimum sounds reasonable on the surface—you're paying something. But the math was designed to keep people in debt. The bank collected interest month after month while the principal barely moved. It wasn't a bug; it was the feature.
So this new rule is basically forcing banks to actually let people pay down what they owe?
Exactly. The 5 percent requirement means you're chipping away at the actual debt, not just servicing the interest. It's the difference between treading water and swimming to shore.
But $78,500 a month instead of $10,000—that's devastating for someone living on a tight budget.
It is. That's why the CMF included the hardship exemption. But it's not a gift. If you use it, you're committing to pay off whatever you deferred within 24 months. It's a pressure valve, not an escape hatch.
Who benefits most from this change?
The people who would have spent 15 years paying interest on a balance that barely shrunk. They get their lives back five years sooner. But in the short term, it's the middle class that feels the squeeze hardest—they have enough income that they don't qualify for the exemption, but not enough that the jump doesn't hurt.
Is there any way around it?
Not really. This is a regulatory mandate. You can defer for two months if you qualify, but you can't opt out. The only real choice is whether you pay the higher minimum or use the hardship provision and restructure your debt.