All mandatory charges, plus a small slice of the actual balance
En Chile, donde el endeudamiento de los hogares ha funcionado durante años como una trampa silenciosa, el regulador financiero CMF pone en vigor el 4 de junio de 2025 una nueva fórmula para el pago mínimo de tarjetas de crédito. La medida, nacida de una ley de 2024, obliga a los tarjetahabientes a cubrir la totalidad de intereses y comisiones más un cinco por ciento del saldo financiable, con la intención de que las deudas comiencen a reducirse en lugar de perpetuarse. Es una intervención estructural que reconoce que las reglas del crédito, más que la voluntad individual, determinan si las personas logran salir a flote.
- Millones de hogares chilenos han acumulado deudas de tarjeta que crecen más rápido de lo que pueden pagarse, atrapados por mínimos que apenas cubren intereses y nunca tocan el capital.
- A partir del 4 de junio, la CMF exige que el pago mínimo incluya el cien por ciento de intereses, comisiones y cargos obligatorios, más un cinco por ciento del saldo restante, elevando el piso de lo que cada mes debe abonarse.
- Las cuotas sin interés —uno de los mecanismos más usados para financiar compras grandes— se incorporan de forma gradual a la categoría no financiable, aumentando un veinticinco por ciento cada seis meses hasta quedar completamente incluidas en junio de 2028.
- La transición escalonada busca evitar un choque brusco en los presupuestos familiares, pero también significa que el cambio más exigente llegará con el tiempo, no de inmediato.
- Durante el segundo semestre de 2025, la CMF recopilará datos granulares de todos los emisores para evaluar si la fórmula está reduciendo el endeudamiento o generando nuevos incumplimientos.
Desde el 4 de junio de 2025, Chile cambia las reglas del crédito de consumo. La Comisión para el Mercado Financiero —la CMF— pone en marcha una nueva fórmula para calcular el pago mínimo de las tarjetas de crédito, derivada de una ley aprobada en 2024 cuyo objetivo central es frenar el sobreendeudamiento que mantiene a muchas familias chilenas atrapadas en ciclos de deuda difíciles de romper.
La fórmula divide el pago mínimo en dos componentes. El primero es el Monto No Financiable: todo lo que el banco cobra en intereses, comisiones y cargos debe pagarse en su totalidad, sin excepción. El segundo es el Monto Financiable: el saldo restante, del cual el tarjetahabiente debe abonar al menos un cinco por ciento. La lógica es clara —primero se cubren los costos obligatorios, luego se exige una mordida real al capital— aunque pagar solo el mínimo sigue implicando más intereses y una deuda más larga.
El cambio más significativo llega de forma gradual. Hoy, las cuotas sin interés —esos planes en cero por ciento que muchos usan para distribuir compras grandes— se clasifican como financiables, por lo que solo el cinco por ciento de su valor entra en el mínimo. Pero cada seis meses, la CMF trasladará un veinticinco por ciento de esas cuotas a la categoría no financiable, hasta que en junio de 2028 deban pagarse íntegramente como parte del mínimo obligatorio. El ritmo pausado pretende dar tiempo a consumidores y bancos para adaptarse sin provocar una ola de impagos.
La regulación establece un piso, no un techo: los bancos pueden exigir pagos mínimos más altos si lo consideran prudente. Y la CMF no se limitará a publicar la norma y esperar: durante el segundo semestre de 2025 recolectará información detallada de todos los emisores para analizar cómo evoluciona el comportamiento de pago y si la fórmula está cumpliendo su propósito. Los próximos tres años dirán si esta intervención estructural logra, por fin, que las deudas de tarjeta en Chile empiecen a achicarse.
Starting June 4th, Chile's financial regulator—the CMF—is putting into effect a new formula for calculating the minimum payment on credit cards. The rule comes from a 2024 law designed to combat over-indebtedness, a problem that has left many Chilean households trapped in cycles of debt they cannot escape. The CMF published the specific formula last June, and now it becomes law.
Here's how it works. The minimum payment is split into two parts. First, cardholders must pay 100 percent of what the CMF calls the Non-Financeable Amount—this includes all interest charges, fees, commissions, and other costs tacked onto the bill. Second, they must pay at least 5 percent of the Financeable Amount, which is whatever remains after those costs are subtracted. In other words: all the mandatory charges, plus a small slice of the actual balance.
The implementation is gradual, which matters. In this first phase, interest-free installments—those zero-interest payment plans many people use to spread out large purchases—are treated as financeable, meaning only 5 percent of their value counts toward the minimum. But every six months, that changes. The CMF will shift more of these installments into the non-financeable category, at a rate of 25 percent every half-year. By June 2028, interest-free installments will be fully non-financeable, meaning cardholders will have to pay them in full as part of their minimum obligation.
The regulation sets a floor, not a ceiling. Banks can require higher minimum payments if they choose. That flexibility matters for institutions that want to be more aggressive about debt reduction. But the CMF's formula is the baseline every card issuer must follow.
Why the gradual approach? The staggered timeline gives both consumers and banks time to adjust. A sudden jump in minimum payments could shock household budgets and create payment defaults. By spreading the change over three years, the CMF is trying to ease the transition while still moving toward the goal: getting people to pay down their balances faster.
The regulator is not taking a hands-off approach. During the second half of 2025, the CMF will collect detailed data from all credit card issuers—transaction-level information that will let them see how the new rule is actually affecting borrowing and repayment behavior. They want to know whether people are paying down debt faster, whether defaults are rising, whether the formula is working as intended. That monitoring will inform whether further adjustments are needed.
One thing the CMF is careful to note: paying only the minimum, even under this new formula, still means paying more interest over time and stretching out the life of the debt. The minimum is a floor for financial stability, not a path to being debt-free. The real purpose of the rule is prevention—stopping people from sliding deeper into over-indebtedness by ensuring they chip away at principal, not just interest. It's a structural intervention in how credit card debt works in Chile, and the next three years will show whether it actually changes behavior.
Notable Quotes
This regulation has the purpose of contributing to the prevention of over-indebtedness in the long term, aligning with the foundation of the law that motivated its development.— CMF statement
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Chile need this rule? Weren't credit card companies already setting minimums?
They were, but the problem was those minimums were often so low that people could pay them forever and never actually reduce what they owed. The interest kept compounding. Over-indebtedness became a trap.
So the CMF is forcing people to pay more?
Not exactly. They're forcing people to pay more of what they actually owe—the interest and fees—rather than letting those costs hide in the balance. And they're requiring a small payment toward principal. It's about visibility and momentum.
Why the three-year phase-in for interest-free installments?
A sudden change would hurt people's monthly budgets. By spreading it over six-month steps, households have time to adjust their spending. Banks get time to see how customers respond. It's gentler than a shock.
Will this actually stop people from over-borrowing?
That's what the CMF is trying to find out. The rule doesn't prevent borrowing—it just makes sure people pay down debt faster. Whether that changes behavior depends on whether people have the income to support higher payments. The monitoring will tell them.
What if someone can't afford the new minimum?
The law allows exceptions in hardship cases, though the details of those exceptions aren't spelled out yet. That's something the CMF will have to clarify as the rule takes effect.