Paid in full vs Installments
Is the retailer including interest? Find out what is more worthwhile.
The Illusion of 'No Interest'
Financial mathematics has a universal rule: Money has value over time. If a store sells you a cell phone for R$ 2,000 in 10 installments 'without interest,' it will take 10 months to receive all the money from you. As inflation erodes money, the R$ 200 from the last installment will not be worth the same R$ 200 as today.
The Hidden Interest
To compensate for this, stores often embed the interest in the price of the cell phone (which would actually be worth R$ 1,800). When you ask to pay in cash, they remove this embedded interest and call it a '10% Discount'.
What is the best option?
If the store really doesn't give any discount at all for cash payment (PIX or cash), the best mathematical decision ispay in installments as much as possibleYou take the money you would use to pay in cash, put it in a Nubank account or Savings account earning interest for yourself, and pay the installments month by month with the earnings.