The free consumer credit is an interest-free credit or a credit with an interest rate of zero.

If you receive this type of credit, you must repay only the money you've been lent.

Since the loan is used to pay for your purchase, the amount to be repaid is product price that you bought.

The free credit allows you to repay this price in installments.

The professional who offers payment in several times free of charge is not entitled to to make you to pay interest, or artificially increase the price to compensate for the absence of financial interest.

It's her forbidden sell the product to a higher than lowest price which he practiced for the same good during the Last 30 days prior to your purchase.

But the merchant or their financial partner can ask you for application fee for the introduction of free consumer credit.

The free consumer credit to a cost, which is the interest you would have paid if you had made a conventional loan.

This cost is supported by the merchant or financial partner with whom they work.

The publicity which presents the offer of free credit must specify who bears the cost of the credit granted free of charge.

The merchant who offers a multi-payment free of charge does not have to give you a discount if you pay cash.

But the trader may decide give the rebate to cash customers. In this case, he must include this information clearly on the advertising media which indicate the possibility of paying in installments free of charge.

Verifying your creditworthiness

The bank or credit institution must check if you have the financial capacity to repay the monthly installments of the credit.

This verification is done first by comparing your income with your mandatory expenses (rent or monthly mortgage, heating, electricity, water, food, reimbursement of consumer credits, etc.). This allows the bank to know how much money remains available in your income after you have finished paying your mandatory expenses.

Then the bank has to go to the National Personal Credit Redemption Incident File (FICP) to check if you've had trouble repaying other credits in the past, or if you've ever issued NSF checks.

Delivery of a pre-contractual information sheet

If the merchant or their financial partner believes that you meet the credit conditions and they want to give you the loan, they must give you a pre-contractual information sheet.

Before signing the contract, the lender (the bank or the credit institution) must provide you with the information that will enable you to know whether the credit is suitable for your needs and financial situation.

The lender must obligatory provide you with a pre-contractual information sheet containing the following elements:

• Identity and address of the lender
• Type of credit (earmarked credit, staff, renewable...)
• Amount of credit and conditions for making available the amount borrowed
• Duration of the contract, number and schedule of refunds (per month, every 2 months...)
• Total amount due
• The total cost of the charge, expressed as a specific amount
• Annual percentage rate of charge (APR) (except in case of rent-to-own), with explanations of how this rate is calculated (expressed as a percentage of the sum borrowed)
• Compensation payable in the event of late payment
• Existence of a withdrawal period : you have 14 calendar days to give up your credit after the contract is signed
• Articles of the Consumer Code on the period of validity of the offer and on the minimum period for reflection
• Your right to obtain, on request and free of charge, a copy of the credit agreement offer
• In the case of an assigned appropriation, the property or service provided is financed

The pre-contractual information sheet can also be used to compare the merchant's proposed credit to other credit proposals.

Submission of a written offer

Once you have received the pre-contractual information sheet, the bank or financial institution must send you a written loan offer.

The bank has to give you 15 minutes free days to sign the loan offer.

If you sign the loan offer within this period, it becomes your contract.

The contract must contain a clause that informs you that you have a right of withdrawal that you can exercise within 14 years calendar days after signing.

You have the right to waive the free consumer credit after the offer is signed, as is the case for all consumer credit.

You must send a termination letter to the lender within 14 calendar days that follow the signature.

The letter of termination must be sent by registered mail with notice of receipt.

You can use the following letter template:

Letter of withdrawal of an assigned credit

If you terminate the free consumer credit agreement, the sales agreement will also be automatically terminated.