Fortnightly mortgage repayments: where the extra payment comes from

Count payments across the year

A fictional monthly repayment of $2,400 totals $28,800 over 12 payments. Paying $1,200 every fortnight totals $31,200 over 26 payments. That is $2,400 extra a year. Much of the potential benefit in this comparison comes from paying more, rather than changing the label on the payment frequency.

Compare equal annual amounts too

To spread the same $28,800 across 26 fortnightly payments, each would be about $1,107.69. Keeping this separate from the half-monthly example helps you understand what you can afford and what is actually changing.

Timing can still matter

Interest calculations and the date a repayment reaches the loan can affect outcomes. Lenders may use daily interest and different processing arrangements. Ask your lender how the proposed schedule is applied, rather than assuming every loan behaves identically.

Check conditions before adding money

Confirm extra-repayment limits, fees and any fixed-rate restrictions. Offset and redraw arrangements have different features and access conditions. Money allocated to the loan may not remain available in the same way as cash in an ordinary account.

Use this calculator for the question it answers

Elaris’s loan tool estimates monthly principal-and-interest repayments using a constant rate. It is useful for a monthly repayment and rate-rise scenario. It does not reproduce a lender’s daily-interest fortnightly schedule; request that projection from the lender before relying on a payoff date.

Official references

General information and fictional examples; independent professional review has not been completed.

Sources checked 22–23 October 2026. Examples and worksheets are our own illustrations.

• MoneySmart: paying a mortgage faster ↗
• MoneySmart: offset accounts ↗

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