Credit card payoff calculator

The calculator first turns the rate you enter into a monthly rate i, using the convention you chose:

• APR ÷ 12: i = APR ÷ 12. This is how US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand card agreements state the periodic rate.
• Effective APR: i = (1 + APR)^(1/12) − 1. UK and Irish cards advertise an APR that already includes monthly compounding, as set out in the FCA’s CONC App 1.2, so the monthly rate is slightly lower than APR ÷ 12. At 24% it is 1.8088% a month rather than 2%.
• Monthly rate: i = rate, when you type the monthly rate printed on the statement.

Then it simulates one month at a time. In each month it adds any annual fee if the month is a multiple of 12, charges interest = round(balance × i) to the smallest unit of the currency, adds that interest to the balance, and takes off the payment: your regular payment plus any extra plus any one-off due that month, capped at the balance so the final month never overpays. The month count is the number of payments made before the balance reaches zero. Total interest is the sum of every month’s interest charge; total paid is the sum of every payment.

In fixed-payment mode the payment is the one you entered. In target-months mode the calculator finds the smallest level payment, to the smallest unit of the currency, that leaves nothing owing within the number of months you chose. The starting point is the standard annuity formula PMT = B × i ÷ (1 − (1 + i)^−n), adjusted for any fee, extras and one-off payments, rounded up and then verified by running the simulation and nudging the payment until the balance clears in time. The last payment is only what remains, so it is a little smaller than the others.

The minimum-only line runs the same balance and the same monthly rate through the minimum-payment rule you chose, recomputing the minimum every month as the balance falls, exactly as the credit card minimum payment calculator does. The saving shown is the minimum-only interest minus your plan’s interest, and the months saved is the difference in month counts. If your payment is no more than the first month’s interest, the balance never falls, and the calculator says so instead of reporting a month count.

Full method, rounding and tests on the methodology page

Use fixed payment when you know what you can afford each month and want to know how long it will take. The headline is the number of months, with the years and months spelled out, and the extras table tells you what 25, 50 or 100 more a month would change. This is the mode to use when comparing a card against other debts, because the same monthly amount can be entered in the debt payoff calculator alongside everything else you owe.

Use target months when the deadline matters more than the amount: a promotional rate ending, a planned application for a mortgage, or simply wanting the card gone within a year. The headline becomes the level payment needed, and the schedule shows the balance falling to zero in the month you chose. If you already pay a regular extra, enter it as well: the solved payment is then the amount on top of that extra.

Both modes accept one-off payments. A bonus or a refund paid in a given month shortens a fixed-payment plan, and in target mode it lowers the level payment needed for the rest of the term. One-off payments after the balance has cleared are ignored, and the calculator tells you when that happens.

The comparison line needs to know how your issuer sets the minimum. Three forms cover almost every card: a fixed amount; a percentage of the statement balance with a floor; or that month’s interest plus a percentage of the balance, again with a floor. The calculator provides editable defaults for six countries so the comparison starts from a realistic rule. They are defaults, not a description of your card: the exact percentage, floor and rounding are in your card agreement and on every statement.

• United States: 1% of the balance plus interest, floor 25. Chase uses a 40 floor; other issuers use 25 to 41.
• United Kingdom: 1% of the balance plus interest, floor 5, the minimum the FCA’s CONC 6.7.5R requires; many issuers take the greater of 1% plus interest, 2.25% of the balance or 5.
• Canada: 3% of the balance, floor 10; Quebec requires 5%.
• Australia: 2% of the balance, floor 25; one major bank uses a 10 floor.
• Ireland and New Zealand: 2.5% or 2% of the balance with a 5 or 10 floor. These two are single-source figures and are marked as such in the tool; check your statement.

Changing any of the rule fields switches the preset to “Custom”, so you can start from a default and adjust it to your card. Our guide to credit card minimum payments explains why a percentage-based minimum takes decades to clear a balance, and how credit card interest works covers the daily-balance method issuers actually use between statements.

Since 2018 the FCA’s rules in CONC 6.7.27R have required UK card providers to assess, every month, whether a customer has paid more in interest, fees and charges over the previous 18 months than they have repaid of the balance. A customer in that position is in “persistent debt”: the provider must contact them, explain the cost of continuing to pay at that level and encourage a higher payment, and after 36 months must offer a way to repay the balance within a reasonable period. Accounts whose balance fell below 200 at any point in the window are exempt.

The calculator runs the same rolling 18-month test on your plan and raises a notice, with the month it would first trigger, when the test is met. In the worked example a payment of 130 a month on 6,000 at 24% is flagged at month 18, because 18 months of interest comes to more than the balance repaid in that time, whereas 250 a month is never flagged. The test uses the threshold of 200 in whatever currency you chose and is informational outside the UK; it is a useful marker of a payment that is only just ahead of the interest anywhere.

US statements carry a related warning. Under the Credit CARD Act and Regulation Z §1026.7(b)(12), each statement must show how long paying only the minimum would take and what it would cost, and the payment that would clear the balance in 36 months. The 36-month figure is the same question as this calculator’s target-months mode with 36 entered, computed under the standard assumptions in Regulation Z Appendix M1: no new purchases, a constant rate, and payment on the due date.

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• CFPB — Regulation Z, Appendix M1: Generic repayment estimates (assumptions for minimum-payment disclosures)
• CFPB — Regulation Z, 12 CFR §1026.7(b)(12): Periodic statement, repayment disclosures (minimum payment warning)
• FCA Handbook — CONC 6.7: Post-contract business practices (minimum payments and persistent credit card debt)
• FCA Handbook — CONC App 1.2: Total charge for credit and the APR
• FCA — Consumer Credit (Persistent Debt and Earlier Intervention Remedies) Instrument 2018 (FCA 2018/7)
• GovInfo — Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-24)
• FCA — PS18/4: Credit card market study, persistent debt and earlier intervention remedies
• Moneysmart (Australian Government) — Credit card calculator
• Bank of Canada — Staff Working Paper 2024-26 (credit card minimum payments in Canada)
• Chase — How to calculate your minimum credit card payment

Estimates for general information only — not financial, credit or legal advice. Your actual figures depend on your lender’s or card issuer’s exact terms, fees, minimum-payment rules, interest calculation method and any changes they make. Check your statements and speak to a qualified adviser before making decisions. We assume no new spending and one unchanged rate for the whole plan; promotional rates, fees and your issuer’s minimum-payment formula can change, so confirm the figures on your statement.

Page reviewed October 9, 2026 by the DebtWren team · Methodology · Changelog · Report an error