Loan calculators: payments, interest and fees
By NovaCash · Updated September 22, 2026
Understand what a loan calculator includes and excludes. Compare estimated payments with the offer’s total repayment amount, including applicable fees.
Before you sign, you need the total cost of borrowing: principal, interest and fees. The FCAC shows this with tables: a smaller payment over a longer term can cost more. A calculator does not decide for you. It makes visible what a slogan hides.
The public NovaCash calculator estimates on a fixed 6-month base, using the periodic rate for the chosen frequency, excluding monthly membership fees. The FAQ publishes product rates. Your exact terms are confirmed in the offer, before acceptance. Every loan is open: early repayment without penalty.
Method, with a labelled example
Illustration from the rates listed in the NovaCash FAQ. Amount $1,000. Estimate term 6 months. Frequency every two weeks. Illustrative payment count: round of 6 × 26 / 12, so 13. Periodic rate 0.8464%. Nominal annual rate 21.9804%. Effective annual rate 24.5000%. Monthly membership fees then add on; their amount appears in the offer.
The illustrative instalment is a standard amortisation: principal × periodic rate × (1 + rate)^n / ((1 + rate)^n - 1). Estimated total is that instalment times 13, still excluding membership fees. If the on-screen figure differs, the screen and the offer win, not this article. Change the amount ($300 to $2,000) and the frequency (weekly, every 2 weeks, monthly: periodic rates 0.4223%, 0.8464% or 1.8241%) to see the calendar effect, not to "optimise" a phantom rate.
What the calculator does not say
It does not promise acceptance. It does not include NSF if the withdrawal hits before payday. It does not line the payment up with the deposit by itself: see payment dates. It does not compare a payday loan: see payday vs fast loans.
If the estimated instalment eats groceries, lower the amount or do not borrow. Eligibility (citizenship, employment, $1,200 direct deposit, no bankruptcy) does not change because the math "works".
Frequently asked questions
Are these rates mine?
They are the product rates published in the FAQ. The offer confirms yours, with fees.
Why 6 months if I repay earlier?
That is the public calculator's estimate window. An open loan allows early repayment without penalty; actual cost then falls.
Are membership fees inside the on-screen payment?
The calculator text says the estimate excludes them. Read the offer.