Debt consolidation in Switzerland: replacing an existing loan

1. What is debt consolidation?

With debt consolidation you take out a new loan and use it to replace one or more existing loans. The old contract ends, and what remains is one commitment with one interest rate, one instalment and one end date. The terms loan replacement and loan consolidation are also common.

People consolidate for one of two reasons: the new interest rate is lower — then the interest costs fall. Or several commitments are combined into one — then the administrative effort falls, and often the monthly burden too, because the term is set anew. The second case is the trickier one: a longer term lowers the instalment and increases the interest costs.

Debt consolidation is not an additional loan. If you need more money in addition to the replacement, that is an increase — and it is assessed as a new loan.

2. When is debt consolidation worthwhile?

There is a simple calculation for this. It is worthwhile if

interest saving over the remaining term > costs of replacement

Three figures determine the interest saving:

Figure	Effect
Interest rate difference	the larger the gap between the old and the new annual percentage rate, the larger the saving
Outstanding balance	the higher the amount still outstanding, the stronger the effect of the rate difference
Remaining term	the longer payments still run, the longer the difference has an effect. With only a few months of remaining term, too little is usually left

From this follow the cases in which doing the sums is particularly worthwhile:

• Your outstanding balance is still high and the remaining term is still substantial.
• You are paying off several loans or leasing instalments in parallel.

And the case in which doing the sums is unnecessary: if your current interest rate is already at or below 4.90 %, no interest saving is to be expected at eny Credit. We write that down rather than letting you find out by trying.

3. How do you calculate your savings potential?

With the loan comparison from eny Credit. The calculator applies to exactly this question — you enter three values from your existing contract:

Field in the calculator	What you enter	Where the value is stated
Desired amount in CHF	the current outstanding balance, not the original loan amount	balance statement from your lender
Term of 6 to 120 months	the remaining term in months	loan agreement or instalment plan
Interest in % at another provider	the annual percentage rate of your existing contract	loan agreement or offer

The calculator then sets the monthly instalment and interest costs of your existing contract against the values at an annual percentage rate of 4.90 % and shows the difference per month and over the remaining term.

Two things about this, so that the figure is read correctly. First: the result is a non-binding estimate. Your personal rate is between 4.90 % and 9.90 % and is only set after the assessment of credit capacity and creditworthiness. Second: the costs of replacement are not included in the result — deduct them from the saving shown (section 4).

If you only want to calculate the replacement without a comparison, use the loan replacement calculator.

4. What does early repayment of the existing loan cost?

With a loan agreement that is subject to the KKG, you can repay early at any time. You receive a waiver of the interest and an appropriate reduction of the costs for the part of the term you no longer use.

What actually applies depends on your existing contract. Check these points before the replacement:

Point to check	Where you find it
Amount of the outstanding balance at the planned replacement date	balance statement, request it in writing
Costs or compensation for early repayment	loan agreement and fee schedule of your previous lender
Notice periods or expiry dates	loan agreement
Ancillary costs already paid that are non-refundable (e.g. insurance premiums)	contract documents

Only once you know this total is the calculation from section 2 reliable. For the terms at eny Credit, the fee schedule applies.

5. Can several loans be combined?

Yes, that is the most frequent reason for debt consolidation. Several commitments — loans, leasing agreements, card debts — are replaced by one loan.

The advantage is not just convenience: if the old commitments are of differing expense, combining them lowers the average interest rate. The price for that is attention to the term. A lower instalment over a longer term feels better and costs more over time. Work through both variants with the loan calculator before you decide.

How much you can combine emerges from the credit capacity assessment. CHF 1’000 to CHF 250’000 with terms of 6 to 120 months are possible.

6. How does debt consolidation work at eny Credit?

1. Calculate the savings potential — with the loan comparison, using the values from section 3.
2. Obtain a balance statement — from your previous lender, in writing, with a reference date.
3. Apply — you complete the online form. You state existing contracts as part of it; they form part of the assessment.
4. Provisional credit decision — after you submit it, you usually receive a provisional decision within around 3 minutes. It is not a binding credit commitment.
5. Assessment and offer — credit capacity and creditworthiness are assessed. With KKG contracts, repayment within 36 months is assumed in principle for the credit capacity assessment, even if the agreed term is longer. You receive your annual percentage rate, your monthly instalment and the total costs in writing.
6. Contract and withdrawal period — with a KKG contract you can withdraw within 14 days of receiving your copy of the contract.
7. Replacement — the specific payment and replacement route is agreed with you and your previous lender.

The application procedure is described in detail in Online loan — application, assessment, payout.

7. When does debt consolidation not make sense?

There are situations in which a new loan does not solve the problem but postpones it. Named honestly:

• The remaining term is short. With only a few months left, the costs of replacement almost always exceed the interest saving.
• The current interest rate is already low. Below 4.90 %, no interest saving is to be expected at eny Credit.
• The instalment is only supposed to fall through a longer term. That lowers the monthly burden and increases the total costs. Defensible as a conscious decision, not as an automatic reflex.
• Consolidation is used to make an excessive level of total debt bearable. Then the debt is the problem, not the interest rate. A loan that would lead to over-indebtedness may not be granted — and should not be sought.

If your monthly commitments no longer add up today, the free and independent Schuldenberatung Schweiz is the right address — before any further loan application. This advice costs nothing and is not tied to a product.

8. Which terms apply at eny Credit?

Feature	Value
Loan amount	CHF 1’000 – CHF 250’000
Term	6 – 120 months
Annual percentage rate	4.90 % – 9.90 %, depending on creditworthiness
Statutory maximum rate for cash loans	10 % annual percentage rate since 1.1.2026, for KKG contracts
Monthly instalment	fixed over the term
Early repayment	possible at any time with KKG contracts
Withdrawal period	with KKG contracts 14 days from receipt of the copy of the contract
Provisional credit decision	usually within around 3 minutes of submission; not a binding credit commitment

On the development of the statutory cap and on the question of why it is not the market rate: maximum interest rate for consumer loans.

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