SAC or Price: Which Brazilian Loan Amortisation Is Better? A Worked Example
In a loan every payment has two parts: the month's interest and the amortisation, the piece of the debt you actually repay. Brazil's SAC and Price systems split those parts differently — and that changes both the payment and the total paid.
How each system works
- SAC (constant amortisation): the amortisation is always the same (debt ÷ number of payments). As the debt falls quickly, so does the interest, and the payment goes down every month. It is the standard for mortgages in Brazil.
- Price (French amortisation): the payment is fixed from start to finish. At first it is almost all interest; the amortisation grows over time. Common for car loans and personal loans.
Example: R$ 200,000 over 120 months at 1% a month
| SAC | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| First payment | R$ 3,666.67 | R$ 2,869.42 |
| Last payment | R$ 1,683.33 | R$ 2,869.42 |
| Balance after 60 months | R$ 100,000.00 | R$ 128,994.84 |
| Total interest | R$ 121,000.00 | R$ 144,330.28 |
| Total paid | R$ 321,000.00 | R$ 344,330.28 |
With SAC you pay R$ 23,330.28 less interest, because you return the bank's money sooner. In exchange the first payment is R$ 797.25 higher.
Which to choose
- SAC makes sense when the first payment fits the budget comfortably: less interest in total and a lighter payment over the years.
- Price helps when today's budget is tight and a fixed payment matters more. The cost is more interest overall.
- Banks cap the payment at a share of income (often around 30%). Because SAC starts higher, it needs a higher income for the same loan.
Extra payments change the maths
Extra payments go straight to the debt and cut future interest. You can shorten the term (saves more interest) or lower the payment. In both systems, paying extra early has the biggest effect.
Compare the total effective cost (CET), which includes insurance and fees, not just the interest rate.
Do the maths
The loan calculator works out SAC and Price with the full month-by-month schedule, a yearly chart and the effect of extra payments.
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