What is a revolving card?
It’s a credit card where what you spend isn’t paid in full at the end of the month. You pay an instalment and whatever is left keeps earning interest.
Spanish rules define it like this: credit for individuals, with no end date or that renews itself, where what you’ve used isn’t paid in full at the end of each period. They call it “crédito revolvente o revolving”.
Many cards have two modes: paying everything at the end of the month, with no interest, or deferring payment, with interest. When you defer, you’re using revolving credit.
How are the instalments paid?
As a percentage of what you owe or as a fixed instalment. According to Banco de España, you can change the instalment within minimums your lender sets.
Each month, the interest due comes out of what you pay first, and the rest lowers the debt. With €2,000 at 18% TIN, the first month’s interest is €30: if you pay €60, only €30 lowers the debt.
What you pay back becomes available to spend again. WiZink calls this the credit’s “recomposición”. That’s why you can keep buying with the card while still paying for purchases from months ago.
Why can the debt drag on forever?
Because if the instalment is small, almost all of it goes on interest, and if you keep buying, the debt goes back up. Banco de España talks of a snowball effect and the risk of getting chained to never-ending debt.
Consumo Responde, the Andalusian government’s consumer service, warns of the same thing: with a low instalment compared with the debt, repayment takes very long and you pay a lot of interest. If the instalment doesn’t even cover the month’s interest, the debt grows even though you pay.
How much does it cost compared with other credit?
Much more. According to Banco de España, in August 2026 the average rate on new credit and revolving card business was 18.26%, against 7.16% for consumer credit. These are TEDR rates, without fees.
With fees included, the average APR (TAE) of the ten revolving cards in Asufin’s 2025 survey is 23.34%.
| Rate | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Credit and revolving cards, new business, August 2026 | 18.26% TEDR (provisional) | Banco de España |
| Consumer credit, new business, August 2026 | 7.16% TEDR | Banco de España |
| Ten revolving cards, average | 23.34% TAE | Asufin, 2025 survey |
What’s the difference between TIN and TAE?
The TIN is the contract’s interest rate, the one used to work out each month’s interest. The TAE (APR) also includes the effect of paying interest on interest and some fees, so it comes out higher.
Our calculator uses the TIN. Both appear in your contract and on your statement.
What does the bank have to tell you?
Before you sign, in a separate document, that it’s revolving credit, whether you can change the payment method, and an example with two or more possible instalments. After that, at least every quarter, when you’d finish paying and how much you’d pay in total.
- Before you sign. The document has to say “revolving” explicitly. Orden EHA/2899/2011 requires it, in the articles added by Orden ETD/699/2020.
- Every quarter. What you’ve used, the interest rate, the payment method and when you’d finish if you stop using the card. If a year of your payments repays less than 25% of the limit, also what would happen if you raised it.
- If the terms change. According to Banco de España, your lender has to tell you at least two months ahead, and you can refuse a new interest rate on the debt you already have.
- In advertising. Since 30 May 2026, an example with a limit of €500, €1,000 or €1,500 paid in equal monthly instalments over four years at most, under Orden ECM/531/2026.
How do I know if my card is revolving?
Check whether you pay an instalment instead of everything you spent, and whether you’re charged interest each month. The guide Is my card revolving? explains what to look for in the contract and on your statement.