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# Pay off the debt, consolidate, claim or use the Segunda Oportunidad law?

If you can pay more than the interest each month, paying the debt down sooner is the simplest option and depends on no one else. If you can get a much cheaper loan, consolidating may save you more; if your interest was far above the average, it may be worth looking into a claim; and if you can't pay, the Segunda Oportunidad law lets debts be cancelled under conditions.

Filip Sardjoski ([About](https://orwanna.com/en/about/)) · Updated: 16 October 2026 · Reviewed by: Not yet

## Which option suits me?

It depends on whether you can pay more than you do now, on your card's interest rate and on whether you have other debts. This table sums up the four options; each one is explained below.

| | Pay it off sooner | Consolidate | Claim | Segunda Oportunidad |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Raise your payment and make extra payments to the card | Combine your debts into one new loan | Ask for the contract or a clause to be annulled for usury or lack of transparency | A court process to cancel debts you can't pay |
| When it fits | You can pay more than the interest each month | You have expensive debts and can get a loan at a clearly lower rate | Your interest was far above the average when you signed, or the contract wasn't explained properly | You can't pay your debts and act in good faith |
| What it costs | The interest you still have to pay | The new loan's interest and fees | No court fee for individuals. Claim firms publish fees of 15% to 25% of what you recover, plus VAT, and charge nothing if you lose. If you lose in court, you may have to pay the bank's legal costs | A lawyer and a procurador, both required, with no court fee. No official source gives their usual fees |
| How long it takes | Depends on your payment: in the example, from 52 months at €60 to 26 at €100 | The new loan's term | About 10 to 15 months in the first court, on 2025 averages | A 3-year payment plan, or 5 in some cases, or the sale of your assets |
| Risks | If you keep using the card, the debt goes back up | If you stretch the term a lot, you pay more interest overall | The judge may not rule in your favour | You may lose assets, and not every debt is cancelled |

## When is it better to pay the debt off yourself?

When you can pay more than the interest each month. It's the option that depends least on anyone else: the law lets you repay early, in part or in full, whenever you like.

In the example of €2,000 at 21.58% TIN, WiZink's rate, a €60 payment takes 52 months and costs €1,080 in interest. At €100, 26 months and €501.

This is where Orwanna fits: round-ups are a small, steady extra payment. But Orwanna only helps if you can already pay a bit more than the interest. If you can't manage even that, look at the other options.

## When does consolidating make sense?

When you have expensive debts and can get a loan at a clearly lower rate, without stretching the term much. According to Banco de España, in August 2026 the average rate on credit and revolving cards was 18.26% and on consumer credit 7.16%, both without fees.

With the same €2,000, a loan at the average consumer credit rate costs much less than the card. But the longer the term, the more interest you pay:

| | Monthly payment | Months | Interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card at 21.58% TIN | €60 | 52 | €1,080 |
| Loan at 7.16%, over 3 years | €61.90 | 36 | €228 |
| Loan at 7.16%, over 5 years | €39.75 | 60 | €385 |
| Loan at 7.16%, over 8 years | €27.43 | 96 | €633 |

The loan in the table has no fees; a real one will have its own APR, and you'll get it or not depending on your situation. If you can get something like it and keep a similar payment, you save more than by paying the card with round-ups.

There's one figure on who consolidates: among the clients of one consolidation company, the Agencia Negociadora de Productos Bancarios, revolving cards now make up 33% of debts, averaging about €8,000. These figures come from its 29,000 files over the last twelve months, not the whole market, according to El Español.

Banco de España warns that a lower payment usually comes from a longer term, which makes the total cost higher, and that you'll pay extra costs: fees for cancelling the old loans and setting up the new one, and the intermediary's fee if there is one. An intermediary that works only for lenders can't charge you, and one that does charge must agree the fee with you in writing. If the new loan is secured on your home, you pay the appraisal, and if you then can't pay, the bank can auction the home.

## Can I claim back the interest on my card?

Possibly, if your interest was far above the average when you signed. A judge decides; here we only report what the Supreme Court has said.

In February 2023, in ruling 258/2023, the Supreme Court held that for revolving cards interest is "notably higher" than normal if it exceeds the average market rate by more than 6 points. It compares the contract's APR (TAE) with Banco de España's average rate for revolving cards, which excludes fees. In that case, a 23.9% APR against an average just under 20% was not found to be usury.

If a judge finds a contract usurious, the 1908 law makes it void. In March 2025 the Supreme Court said that, with a usurious revolving card, you can recover what you paid above the money you used for the 5 years and 82 days before your claim.

In February 2025 it also set out what the bank must explain before signing for the interest clause to be transparent: how the credit renews itself, that the APR is high, how little a low payment pays off, and that you pay interest on interest. If it doesn't, the clause can be annulled as unfair.

The average rate Banco de España publishes for credit and revolving cards changes over the years:

| Year | Average rate (TEDR) |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 20.80% |
| 2018 | 19.98% |
| 2019 | 19.67% |
| 2020 | 18.06% |
| 2021 | 18.42% |
| 2022 | 17.99% |
| 2023 | 18.22% |
| 2024 | 18.54% |

## What is the Segunda Oportunidad law?

It's the popular name for the discharge of unpaid debts (exoneración del pasivo insatisfecho) in Spain's Insolvency Act: a judge can cancel debts you can't pay, if you're an individual acting in good faith. It's governed today by the 2022 reform, Ley 16/2022.

There are two routes. With a payment plan, without selling your assets, which generally lasts three years, or five if you keep your home or the payments depend mainly on your income. Or with the sale of your assets.

You can't use it if, for example, you've been convicted of certain crimes in the last ten years, your insolvency was declared culpable, or you gave false information or took on debt recklessly. Some debts aren't cancelled: maintenance payments, fines, compensation for crimes and, beyond certain limits, debts to the tax authority and Social Security. Credit card debts don't appear on that list.

If debts are cancelled, you have to wait two years, or five if your assets were sold, before applying again.

You need a lawyer and a procurador, and there's no court fee. Once the debt is wiped, the court tells your creditors to report it to the debtor registers they had told about the missed payments, and you can also ask those registers to update your record yourself. The exoneration is published in the Registro Público Concursal.

## Where do I get help?

If your bank doesn't help, complain first to its customer service department. If it doesn't reply within a month, or 15 working days for a payment service, or you disagree, you can complain to Banco de España.

Banco de España won't accept the complaint if more than a year has passed since you complained to your bank. For a usury or transparency claim, or for the Segunda Oportunidad process, the route is a court, and it's worth talking to a lawyer or a consumer association.

## Sources

1. [Ley 16/2011, de contratos de crédito al consumo, article 30](https://app.bde.es/clf_www/leyes.jsp?id=102904&fc=08-11-2017&idart=102940&tipoEnt=0), Banco de España
2. [Boletín Estadístico, table 19.4: interest rates (TEDR) on new business](https://www.bde.es/webbe/es/estadisticas/compartido/datos/pdf/a1904.pdf), Banco de España, 30 September 2026
3. [Article on revolving cards in debt consolidation requests, by Rubén Escudero](https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/empresas/banca/20260607/tarjetas-revolving-pasan-pandemia-piden-agrupar-deudas/1003744275882_0.html), El Español, Invertia, 7 June 2026
4. [El Tribunal Supremo resuelve el carácter usurario de los intereses pactados en una tarjeta revolving](https://www.poderjudicial.es/cgpj/es/Poder-Judicial/Noticias-Judiciales/El-Tribunal-Supremo-resuelve-el-caracter-usurario-de-los-intereses-pactados-en-una-tarjeta--revolving-), Poder Judicial, 21 February 2023
5. [Supreme Court ruling 258/2023 (Civil Chamber, plenary)](https://www.poderjudicial.es/portal/site/cgpj/viewDocument?ECLI=ECLI:ES:TS:2023:442), Poder Judicial, CENDOJ, 15 February 2023
6. [El Tribunal Supremo fija los criterios para declarar abusivos los intereses de las tarjetas revolving por falta de transparencia](https://www.poderjudicial.es/cgpj/es/Poder-Judicial/Tribunal-Supremo/Noticias-Judiciales/El-Tribunal-Supremo-fija-los-criterios-para-declarar-abusivos-los-intereses-de-las-tarjetas--revolving--por-falta-de-transparencia), Poder Judicial, 3 February 2025
7. [El Tribunal Supremo se pronuncia sobre la prescripción de la restitución del exceso pagado por el cliente de una tarjeta revolving usuraria](https://www.poderjudicial.es/cgpj/es/Poder-Judicial/Noticias-Judiciales/El-Tribunal-Supremo-se-pronuncia-sobre-la-prescripcion-de-la-restitucion-del-exceso-pagado-por-el-cliente-de-una-tarjeta-revolving-usuraria), Poder Judicial, 7 March 2025
8. [Ley de 23 de julio de 1908 sobre nulidad de los contratos de préstamos usurarios](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1908-5579), BOE
9. [Ley 16/2022, reforming the consolidated Insolvency Act](https://www.boe.es/eli/es/l/2022/09/05/16), BOE, 6 September 2022
10. [Consolidated Insolvency Act (Ley Concursal), articles 486 to 502](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2020-4859), BOE
11. [Cómo realizar una reclamación](https://clientebancario.bde.es/pcb/es/menu-horizontal/podemosayudarte/consultasreclama/comorealizarrecl/), Banco de España, Portal del Cliente Bancario
12. [Reclamaciones y consultas sobre normativa de transparencia y buenas prácticas bancarias](https://sedeelectronica.bde.es/sede/es/tramites/reclamaciones-transparencia-buenas-practicas-p104.html), Banco de España, Sede Electrónica
13. [Ley 10/2012 on court fees, article 4](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2012-14301), BOE
14. [Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil (civil procedure), articles 394 and 395](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2000-323), BOE
15. [Estimación de los tiempos medios de los asuntos terminados](https://www.poderjudicial.es/cgpj/es/Temas/Estadistica-Judicial/Estadistica-por-temas/Actividad-de-los-organos-judiciales/Estimacion-de-los-tiempos-medios-de-los-asuntos-terminados/), Consejo General del Poder Judicial, 2025 data, published 16 April 2026
16. [Fees for claiming a revolving card (price page)](https://www.reclamador.es/ayuda/banco/costes-reclamacion-tarjeta-revolving/), Reclamador.es, updated 2 June 2026
17. [Tarjetas revolving (price page)](https://demandamosporti.es/tarjetas-revolving/), Demandamosporti
18. [Reclamar tus tarjetas revolving (price page)](https://pintoserranoabogados.com/reclamar-tus-tarjetas-revolving/), Pinto & Serrano Abogados, 6 April 2021
19. [La reunificación de deudas: calcula bien las consecuencias antes de firmarla](https://clientebancario.bde.es/pcb/es/blog/reunificacion-de-deudas-simplificar-.html), Banco de España, 30 April 2026
20. [Qué hacer si no puedo pagar la hipoteca](https://clientebancario.bde.es/pcb/es/menu-horizontal/productosservici/financiacion/hipotecas/guia-textual/cancelarhipoteca/Que_hacer_si_no_1cec24e53ab1d51.html), Banco de España
21. [Ley 5/2019 on mortgage credit contracts, article 14](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2019-3814), BOE
22. [Ley 2/2009 on loan intermediation, article 22](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2009-5391), BOE
23. [Consolidated Insolvency Act (Ley Concursal), articles 492 ter, 510 and 561](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2020-4859), BOE

## Read next

- [Get out of revolving debt](https://orwanna.com/en/guides/get-out-of-revolving-debt/): Stop using the card's credit, raise your payment or switch to paying in full, and make extra payments when you can: every extra euro goes straight to the debt. With €2,000 at 18% TIN, raising the payment from €60 to €100 cuts the time from 47 to 24 months and the interest from €793 to €396.
- [The 22% APR cap](https://orwanna.com/en/guides/22-percent-cap/): It isn't law. The draft consumer credit contracts law, which the Council of Ministers approved in a first reading on 7 January 2026, sets a transitional 22% cap on revolving cards, including existing ones. It never reached Congress, and the Cortes were dissolved on 5 October 2026 ahead of the 29 November election.
- [Round-ups to pay off debt](https://orwanna.com/en/guides/round-ups-for-debt/): Rounding up your purchases and sending the difference to the card is a small, steady extra payment. With €2,000 at 18% TIN and a €60 payment, adding about €45 of round-ups a month cuts the time from 47 to 23 months and the interest from €793 to €373.

**General information, not financial or legal advice.** For help or to complain: [Banco de España's Portal del Cliente Bancario](https://clientebancario.bde.es/pcb/es/), [Asufin](https://www.asufin.com/), [OCU](https://www.ocu.org/), [FACUA](https://facua.org/), [ADICAE](https://www.adicae.es/).

## The interest you stop paying is yours. Sign up.

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