# Credit Card Payoff Calculator

> How long a card takes to clear and what the interest costs, on a fixed payment or on the minimum. The minimum is a percentage of the balance, so it falls as the balance does — which is the whole reason it takes so long.

Use it: https://tessalor.com/en/money/credit-card-payoff

This tool runs entirely in the browser. Nothing entered into it is uploaded.

## Formula

```
Each month, in this order:

  interest  = round(balance x apr / 100 / 12)
  due       = balance + interest
  payment   = round(what you pay this month)
  principal = payment - interest
  balance   = due - payment

On a fixed payment:
  payment = the same amount every month

On the minimum:
  payment = max(balance x percent + interest, floor)

The last payment is only what is left, so the
totals reconcile with the schedule.

round = to the nearest minor unit, half up.
```

## Assumptions

- Interest is charged monthly at the APR divided by twelve, which is what a statement shows. Most issuers accrue daily, which differs by a small amount over a multi-year payoff and cannot be reconciled against a statement.
- Nothing further is charged to the card. A single new purchase changes every row below it, and is the commonest reason a real balance does not follow a schedule like this one.
- The minimum is modelled as a percentage of the balance plus that month's interest, floored at a fixed amount. That is a common shape and not a universal one — some issuers use a percentage of the balance alone, and the terms vary by card and by country. Both figures are editable.
- There is no promotional rate, no balance transfer, no fee and no missed payment. Each of those changes the answer materially.
- A payment that does not cover the first month of interest is refused rather than reported, because there is no payoff to report. The balance grows for ever.
- The figures carry no currency symbol on purpose. The arithmetic is the same in pounds, euros or dollars, and the tool follows whichever currency your locale uses.

## Inputs

| Name | Label | Type | Default | Range |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `balance` | Balance | currency | 3000 | 0 to 1000000 |
| `apr` | APR | percent | 22.9 | 0 to 200 |
| `mode` | What you pay | select | minimum |  |
| `payment` | Monthly payment | currency | 100 | 0 to 1000000 |
| `minimumPercent` | Minimum, as a percentage of the balance | percent | 2 | 0.1 to 100 |
| `minimumFloor` | Minimum payment floor | currency | 25 | 0 to 1000000 |

## Outputs

- `monthsToClear` — Time to clear (duration), primary
- `totalInterest` — Interest paid (currency)
- `totalPaid` — Total paid (currency)
- `firstPayment` — First payment (currency)

## Questions

### How long will it take to pay off my credit card?

It depends far more on what you pay than on what you owe. A balance of 3,000 at 22.9% clears in 45 months paying 100 a month, in 26 months paying 150, and in 112 months on a 2% minimum. The minimum takes longest despite starting at 117.25 — higher than either fixed payment — because it falls every month while a fixed payment does not.

### Why does paying the minimum take so long?

Because the minimum is a percentage of the balance, so it shrinks as the balance shrinks and each payment removes less than the last. The debt approaches zero rather than reaching it. What eventually clears the card is not the percentage but the floor underneath it — the "or 25, whichever is greater" clause — and by then most of the money has gone on interest.

### Why is my balance barely going down?

Because most of the payment is interest. At 22.9% APR a balance of 3,000 accrues 57.25 in the first month, so a payment of 100 removes 42.75 from what you owe and the rest services the debt. That ratio improves every month as the balance falls, which is why the last year of a payoff moves much faster than the first.

### What happens if I pay just under the interest?

The balance grows and nothing ever clears it, so this tool refuses to produce a schedule. The line is sharper than it looks: on 3,000 at 22.9%, paying 57.25 is refused and paying 57.26 clears the card in 462 months at a cost of 23,444.94 in interest. A cent either side of that line is thirty-eight years and nearly eight times the debt.

### Is it better to pay a fixed amount than the minimum?

Substantially, and it can cost nothing in the first month. Freezing the payment at the first minimum of 117.25 instead of letting it fall clears this example in 36 months for 1,155.70 of interest, against 112 months and 2,498.51 on the falling minimum. Same first payment, less than half the interest.

## Sources

- [12 CFR Part 1026.7 — Periodic statement (Regulation Z)](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/7/) — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, applies to 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
- [CONC 6 — Post contractual requirements](https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/CONC/6/) — Financial Conduct Authority, applies to 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-31.

## Variants

- [What happens if I only pay the minimum?](https://tessalor.com/en/money/credit-card-payoff/paying-only-the-minimum)
- [What does a 3,000 credit card balance cost?](https://tessalor.com/en/money/credit-card-payoff/cost-of-a-3000-balance)

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Estimate, not advice. See https://tessalor.com/en/disclaimer.
Machine-readable catalogue: https://tessalor.com/api/tools.json