credit : latest update april 2nd, 2006.

Download (free for home users and non-commercial purpose)

Optim-Credit has been developped since 2003. It is one of the most widely used freeware about home-credit in France. The international version, in english, has been developped in 2005.

Easy install: Download the file and execute the automatic install. (You might need to answer Yes to Microsoft Windows security warning, if any)

Download OptimCredit V4.6.0 Freeware (120ko) - The true cost of credit

Click to enlarge the pictures.

Optim-Credit : calculate the true cost of mortgage or credit (real-estate, credit cards, debts, ...)

OptimCredit is a free sofware about your credit

New : online version available in french Mortgage, credit and taxes : OptimCredit.

Discover everything about credit and french taxes on http://www.optimcredit.com/ (most part is in french)

Optim-Credit lets you define a credit's or mortgage contract : interest rate, number of months. Based on this, it computes the true cost of the credit, which can be represented by the "total cost" and the "equivalent interest rate". The "total cost" is the sum of all interest and fees of the contract. It can be computed as the difference between the money you pay versus the money you receive. The "equivalent interest rate" is a very interesting value. It shows the real cost of the money, according to the contract base interest rate and also the fees, insurance cost, ... Optim-Credit also computes a value of "total cost" which takes deflation into account (at a 2% rate, which is the target of FED and BCE) Most of the time, the credit cost is not correctly represented by the interest rate of credit card contract or mortgage contract. Other costs, such as fees or insurance, should also be considered for calculation of the true cost of credit. The law in many countries makes it mandatory for a bank to show the real-cost of the credit. In France for example, showing the "equivalent interest rate" is mandatory. The definition and calculation of the equivalent interest rate correspond to a very precise mathematics formula, and it can be used world-wide for people who want to know the true cost of their credit(s). Using Optim-Credit to calculate the equivalent interest rate, and comparing the equivalent interest rate of different contracts proposals is certainly the best way to select an offer. Computing the "total cost" of the credit is much easier than computing the "equivalent interest rate". However, the "equivalent interest rate" is more interesting and more accurate because its computation depends on time, and time is really the fundamental aspect of credit : paying now is different than paying in 1 year. OptimCredit is the only software about credit with so many features and advanced features:

Features	Optim-Credit	Mortgage Calculator	Mortgages by Interest.com
Load/Save mortgage values (interest rates, ...) in files
Show Interest/Principal
Amortization schedule
Total cost interest+fees
Equivalent Interest Rate
Total cost including deflation
Modify monthly payments (pay more or less)
Add several mortgages
Financial gain when modifying payments

Screenshot

How does it work ?

First, Optim-Credit lets you define the configuration of a mortgage : interest rate, principal, number of years. It also lets you define other information such as the fees, the monthly insurance cost (death-insurance is mandatory in some countries). Based on this, Optim-Credit computes the amortizing schedule.

The amortizing schedule contains useful information : how much is paid each month, in total. What part of the payment is interest or principal. Using very precise financial computations, Optim-Credit also tells you (i) the total cost, (ii) the total cost, considering deflation of 2% and (iii) the equivalent interest rate. These values are very important because they represent the true cost of the credit. Comparing these values between several offers is the best way to select the cheapest offer.

In addition, many banks or mortgage institutions let you modify payments. Some year, you might decide to pay slightly less or slightly more each month. You might also decide to pay at one time a part of the principal. When you do this, you should be able to know what exactly is your gain. If you are going to pay a bit more today, you expect to pay less in the future. Optim-Credit is the only software that tells you the exact financial gain, in percent per year of the paid amount.

Moreover, Optim-Credit lets the user sum several mortgage configuration. It computes the total cost and equivalent interest rate on the whole stuff. This is very interesting when one family has several credits : housing mortgage, car credit, credit card.

Download (free)

Click below to start download, then click the file to install.

Download OptimCredit V4.6.0 Freeware (120ko) - The true cost of credit

The software is free for home users and non-commercial purpose.

Help center and support

Your feedback is important to us. Please contact the author for technical questions or to report a bug. A forum will be added soon. support@optimcredit.com.

System requirements

The software works on any computer running Windows XP.

For Windows98, 95, Windows2000, WindowsNT, you need to install Microsoft .NET Runtime which can be downloaded for free from Microsoft's website Microsoft® .NET Framework Version 1.1 RedistributablePackage.
If the above link is broken, you can try http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/downloads/howtoget.aspx.

Author and license

OptimCredit has been written using C# and Microsoft .NET Framework SDK.

The software is available for free and can be used freely by home users for non-commercial purpose. For commercial use, please contact the author support@optimcredit.com.

BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Keywords:

credit, interest rate, mortgage, real estate, housing, rental, true cost, bank, banks, appartment, house, purchase, bank, loan, debt, rental

 

Updates :

• Dec 13th, 2005. Version 4.6.0 is build using Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Express and the v2.0 .NET Framework.
• Nov 1st, 2005. Version 4.5.1 (French only) Add possibility to add several mortgages. Add possibility to Edit/Modify existing mortgage configuration.
• Sep 16th, 2004. version 4.0.1. License bug fix.
• Sep 5th, 2004. Version 4.0.0. Load/Save mortgage configuration as XML files. Possibility to do several payments modifications on the schedule.
• Mar 20th, 2004. Version 3.1.1. Automatic install/setup file.
• Feb 7th, 2004. Version 3.0.4. Possibility to use calendar dates instead of month count.
• Oct 28th, 200. Version 3.0. First release that is freely available on the web. Optimcredit's target is to be the reference software for calculation of mortgages and for achieving gains by optimizing your payments.

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