Credit card zero-balance deadline in Belgium: how it works

The zero-balance rule sets the date before which the balance of a credit line must return to zero at least once. It is printed on the contract and on the statement, it is counted in months from the first drawdown, and its legal ceiling changes depending on whether the card repays capital in instalments: 60 months up to 5,000 euros in that case, 12 months under 3,000 euros in the other.

Paying only the monthly minimum does not reach it. That is the arithmetic of the clauses I read, and the reason some statements carry a warning.

What is the legal zero-balance period for a credit card?

It depends on how the capital is repaid. Article VII.95, § 2, of the Code of Economic Law imposes a zero-balance period on credit lines of indefinite duration, or of more than five years, and the royal decree of 14 September 2016 (article 14, § 3) sets the maximum. An article in Les Échos du crédit dated 2 October 2012 and the Credit2Consumer page on articles 13 and 14 give the same four figures. Cofidis confirms the two of the second regime.

The floor for an instalment is 25 euros. A card whose contract imposes a minimum as a fraction of the balance, one eighteenth at Beobank, repays its capital in instalments. I therefore place it in the second regime, the 60 months under 5,000 euros. Cofidis publishes 60 months up to 5,000 euros and mentions no 12 month period, 12 not being the right figure for its cards.

The 12 month figure circulates far more than the other. Our fees glossary from late August cites it alone, and the correction appears at the end of this page. The full cost of a card is worked out in the guide to the real cost of a credit card; here, only the calendar matters.

Where do you read the zero-balance date of your own card?

1. In the credit contract. The Beobank general terms refer to "the period indicated on the front", and Cofidis cites the contract first.
2. On the monthly statement. In the Buy Way guide of September 2025, the sample statement of 17 December 2025 carries a zero-balance date of 17 October 2027. At KBC, the date appears on the spending statement or in KBC Touch for those who repay in instalments.
3. In the customer area, or through customer service, which Cofidis also cites.
4. In the warning letter. The lender must warn at the latest two months before the deadline (article VII.95, § 4, according to Credit2Consumer). Buy Way announces two reminders, at 8 months and 2 months, on its information sheet; its September 2025 guide does not mention them.

The counter does not follow the calendar year. At Beobank, the period runs within two months of the first drawdown and restarts at the first drawdown after the last zero balance. Cofidis gives a dated example: 1,250 euros opened on 1 September 2023, first use on 7 September, a period of 33 months, zero balance at the latest on 7 June 2026. Returning to zero earlier costs nothing, it starts a fresh period.

If you clear the whole spending statement every month, the date does not concern you: KBC states that this meets the obligation automatically. The mechanism of the credit line behind a card is laid out in the guide to how a credit card works.

For 2,500 euros, 41 months at Cofidis and Buy Way, 37 in my calculation

Buy Way and Cofidis show the same figure. Buy Way gives 41 months for a 2,500 euro credit on its information sheet, and so does the indicative Cofidis grid of October 2023. I redid the calculation on 14 October 2026 with the rule read above: a monthly instalment equal to one twelfth of the remaining balance (one eighteenth above 5,000 euros), a floor of 25 euros, no interest, no new purchase.

My result is lower by two to six months up to 4,000 euros, which interest would plausibly add. That is a hypothesis: Buy Way presents its date as indicative without giving the method, and Cofidis says its periods have no contractual value. At 5,500 euros the gap rises to twelve months, and I cannot explain it.

The period grows more slowly than the amount: from 500 to 4,000 euros, the sum is multiplied by eight and the period by 2.4. The interest that accrues along the way is covered in the guide to credit card interest rates, and the mechanics of payments in the one on credit card repayment.

Does the minimum repayment reach the date?

No, and the clauses admit it. The Beobank general terms set the minimum at one eighteenth of the amount due up to 5,000 euros of credit, one twentieth above, with a floor of 25 euros and the fee on top: 100 euros for a balance of 1,800. They add that this amount may be higher "in order to repay the amount drawn within the zero-balance period".

Two clocks are therefore running. The one eighteenth minimum sets the rhythm of the contract, the zero-balance date is computed on a one twelfth instalment, and in my reading of the two rules the first is slower than the second from the start. On 2,500 euros, still without interest, the gap is visible month by month.

At month 41, the deadline that Cofidis and Buy Way show for this amount, a cardholder paying the minimum still owes 175.02 euros before any interest. It takes 49 payments to clear it.

I count this arrangement among the badly built clauses: the amount that keeps the contract in good standing leads to missing the deadline the law imposes, and nothing in the direct debit flags it. The Buy Way guide states that minimums may not suffice to repay the balance before the date, a warning printed on its sample statement. At Beobank, only the clause warns, as no statement was read.

To note on your latest statement:

• the zero-balance date shown;
• the total amount due, fees and interest included, since that is what brings the balance to zero;
• any warning about the minimum;
• the mention of 24 hours at zero, when the issuer requires it.

That last point comes from Buy Way: on the zero-balance date, the balance must be 0 euros for at least 24 hours. How those 24 hours are counted for a transfer sent on a Friday, the guide does not say.

What happens when the date passes without a return to zero?

The card is blocked first, the registration comes after. The Buy Way guide of September 2025 writes that use is suspended first, then that the persistent default is registered in the negative section of the Central Individual Credit Register. Buy Way's comparison of credit forms, whose APRs date from 1 December 2025, adds that the whole amount becomes due and that registration follows a month later. Cofidis also cites late interest and possible termination. Credit2Consumer specifies that the breach does not automatically trigger the termination clause: the lender must serve formal notice. The conditions and duration of a registration are detailed in our article on CCP registration.

Test-Achats notes that the zero-balance rule pushes people to take out a new loan to avoid it (file of 17 November 2020, metadata of April 2024), and I share that wariness: refinancing moves the deadline without resolving it. If reaching zero in time looks out of reach, the prudent step is to write to the issuer before the date, then to contact an approved debt mediation service or your local CPAS. Ombudsfin steps in if the issuer's answer does not suit you; the procedure is described in our guide to cardholder rights.

The limits of this review as of 14 October 2026

The text of the decree escaped me: ejustice and the FPS Economy page on the zero-balance rule refuse robots, and the date it came into force could not be read. The figures in the first table rest on reproductions that agree, with the reservation that this implies. The points I could not close:

• the calculation method behind the Cofidis and Buy Way periods;
• the contractual period at KBC and Beobank, which the pages read do not state;
• the zero-balance clauses of ING, BNP Paribas Fortis, Belfius and Argenta, not read for this page.

A correction is also due on our side. The fees glossary of 27 August 2026 gives the 12 and 60 months citing the FPS Economy, then contrasts those 12 months with the one eighteenth minimum of the Beobank card. If that card falls under the capital instalment regime, as I read it here, the applicable ceiling is 60 months under 5,000 euros and the contrast no longer holds as written. The finding on the minimum remains exact: it leaves 50.4% of the capital after twelve months.

As of 14 October 2026, the date printed on your latest statement prevails. No table on this page replaces it.