LATAM financial calculators — country-by-country

Every Latin-American country has its own rate convention for consumer credit, mortgage, auto financing, and term deposits: CET in Brazil, CAT in Mexico, TEA in Ecuador and Colombia, TCEA in Peru, CFT in Argentina, CAE in Chile. An honest calculator must use the local regulator convention — not invent a fictitious "LATAM average" nominal rate — and disclose the currency and source. Comparamigo publishes per-country calculators for personal loan, mortgage, auto, and term deposit, each aligned with the official metric published by the central bank or financial supervisor of that market.

Why the rate convention matters more than the number

A 30% nominal annual rate (TNA) becomes a 34.5% effective annual rate (TEA) under monthly compounding, and 42% CFT when administrative fees, tax stamps, and mandatory insurance are added. Comparing 30% in one country with 35% in another without aligning conventions inverts the result. The local regulator defines the mandatory metric — Banxico publishes CAT, BACEN publishes CET, BCRA publishes CFT — and a useful calculator consumes the official metric, not an approximate translation.

Four standard calculators — what each one computes

Personal loan: monthly payment from principal, term, and rate (effective or nominal per country). Mortgage: payment from amount, term, rate, and amortization system (French/Price or constant/SAC). Auto: payment from vehicle value, down payment, term, and rate. Term deposit: gross yield from principal, term, and nominal rate. All four are normalized to the local convention so the result is comparable to what the institution will actually quote.

Indexed mortgages — UVR, UVA, UF and inflation

Three LATAM countries index mortgages to an adjustable unit: Colombia uses UVR (Real Value Unit, recalculated by inflation), Argentina uses UVA (Adquisitive Value Unit, also inflation-linked), and Chile uses UF (Unit of Account, CPI-adjusted). An honest mortgage calculator for those countries must disclose that the nominal payment in current currency may adjust each month — interest is not the only variable. A calculator that ignores UVR/UVA/UF returns a correct opening payment and a fundamentally misleading projection.

Term deposits and the yield metric

Mexico publishes GAT (Total Annual Gain) as the mandatory metric for term deposits, and GAT Real when net of inflation. Brazil quotes CDBs in %CDI or annual nominal rate; LCI/LCA term products are personal-income-tax exempt for individuals. Argentina publishes BADLAR as a reference for wholesale deposits. Chile quotes monthly and annual nominal rates. Each metric answers a different question: "how much does it earn before tax?" is not the same as "how much does it earn net of inflation?". A useful calculator declares which metric it returns.

Why Comparamigo does not publish a "LATAM average rate"

Averaging rates across countries with different currencies, different inflation regimes, and different metrics is mathematically possible and economically meaningless — the resulting number represents nothing a consumer can act on. Comparamigo keeps calculations per country and forces the user to pick their country before seeing results. That friction is deliberate: a pan-LATAM calculator with a single "rate" field would be simpler and much less honest.

How Comparamigo cites the source

On each country page you will see four things: the local currency (USD for Ecuador, COP, MXN, BRL, PEN, ARS, CLP), the rate convention required by the regulator (TEA, CAT, CET, TCEA, CFT, CAE), a summary of market specifics (amortization system, indexation, deposit metrics), and a direct link to the regulator portal where the current figure is published. Calculators live on the country page; numbers you enter are compared against the local convention — not against an invented "international" version.

The four standard calculators

Calculators and regulators by country

Frequently asked questions