Credit Card Payoff & Minimum Payment Calculator

How long will it take to pay off a credit card?

Payoff time depends on the balance, the APR active each month, account fees, the issuer’s changing minimum-payment formula, and how much you actually pay. This calculator compares the calculated minimum, minimum plus a fixed extra amount, and a planned monthly payment floor. It can also test one full-balance transfer using the same planned payment.

The target result is the payment floor needed to repay the modeled balance within your selected number of months. It assumes no new charges and is not a lender quote or product recommendation.

Continue with Check the minimum-payment formula or Compare payment strategies for the next calculation.

Use the calculator from your statement and offer

1. Copy the statement balance and the APR that applies now.
2. If a promotion is active, enter its rate and whole months remaining, plus the regular APR that follows.
3. Transcribe the minimum formula: percentage of balance, interest plus fees plus principal percentage, or fixed floor.
4. Add recurring and annual account fees with the next annual-fee month.
5. Enter an affordable extra amount, planned payment floor, and payoff target.
6. For a transfer, copy the fee, promo and post-promo rates, expiry, account fees, and new minimum formula.

For several cards or loans, use the Debt Payoff Planner; this page deliberately owns one-card statement mechanics.

Monthly payoff formula and order

Each modeled month begins with the prior closing balance. Interest = opening balance × active APR ÷ 12. The model rounds interest to cents, adds the entered monthly fee and any annual fee due that month, then calculates the issuer minimum and applies the selected payment path. The payment is capped at the amount due.

The planned amount is a floor, not permission to underpay: when the calculated minimum is higher, the higher minimum is used. Target payments are found by testing cents-based payment floors until the balance closes within the selected month.

Credit-card minimum-payment formulas differ

Common structures include a percentage of statement balance subject to a money floor, or interest and fees plus a stated percentage of principal subject to a floor. Some products use a fixed amount until the remaining balance is lower. Your statement and agreement control.

For a 5,000 opening balance at 24% APR with a 3% balance minimum, first-month interest is 100, the amount due is 5,100, and the modeled first minimum is 153. With an interest-plus-1%-principal method and a 35 floor, it would be 150 before any other fee. That difference compounds across later months.

Why minimum-only repayment can last for years

A percentage minimum normally falls as the balance falls, so less money reaches principal later. In the default 5,000 example at 24% APR, a 3% minimum takes 192 modeled months and 8,005.86 of interest. A 250 payment floor takes 26 months and 1,449.37 of interest—a 166-month and 6,556.49 interest difference under the same monthly model.

If a fixed minimum is below monthly interest and fees, the balance can grow. The calculator reports zero payoff months and the balance after 600 months instead of pretending the plan amortizes.

Promotional APR expiry changes the path

The active promotional APR is used for the entered whole months, then the regular APR begins. Inspect the balance at expiry: a low rate helps only during the promotional window, and the remaining balance can become expensive afterward.

A normal 0% or low-rate promotion is not a deferred-interest offer. CFPB guidance explains that deferred-interest promotions can impose interest back to the purchase date when conditions are not met. This calculator excludes that structure; do not enter it as an ordinary 0% period.

Compare a balance transfer by total cost, not 0% alone

The transfer path capitalizes the greater of the percentage fee or entered minimum fee, then applies the transfer promo APR, post-promo APR, account fees, and new minimum formula. It compares the transfer with the current account using the same planned payment floor.

Check the balance at promo expiry and the payment needed to clear the transferred balance during the promo. Also verify transfer eligibility, maximum amount, deadline, purchases, allocation, lost-promotion triggers, and whether using the new card affects purchase grace periods. The calculator does not predict approval or credit limits.

Read the balance-transfer break-even guide before treating headline APR as savings.

Fixed payment versus minimum plus extra

Minimum plus extra follows the issuer minimum as it changes, then adds the same extra amount. Planned fixed payment aims for one stable floor but increases to a higher required minimum when needed. They can produce different schedules even when the first payment is similar.

A fixed floor is easier to map to a payoff target; minimum plus extra can preserve issuer-formula behavior. Compare interest, fees, total paid, payoff months, and final payment—not only the first month.

How the four-market setting works

• United States: the page uses USD and supports the statement-style minimum and three-year payoff planning context, but does not reproduce every Regulation Z disclosure rule.
• United Kingdom: the page uses GBP; persistent-debt communications and provider minimum formulas remain account-specific.
• Canada: the page uses CAD; FCAC notes that minimums may use a flat amount plus interest and fees or a greater-of percentage rule, and provincial rules can differ.
• Australia: the page uses AUD and supports the changing-percentage/floor pattern illustrated by Moneysmart, but your contract controls.

The selector changes currency and wording only. It never inserts an issuer formula, legal minimum, current rate, tax, or product offer.

Worked example with a transfer fee and promo expiry

Start with 5,000 at 24% APR, a 3%-of-balance minimum with a 35 floor, and a planned payment of 250. The current-card path takes 26 months and 1,449.37 interest. A full transfer with a 3% fee adds 150, begins at 5,150, and has 0% for 18 months followed by 24%.

At the same 250 payment floor, 650 remains after month 18. The transfer finishes in 21 months with 24.69 interest; including the 150 transfer fee, its modeled financing cost is 174.69, which is 1,274.68 below the current path. A 286.12 payment floor clears it within 18 months. These are calculator-model outputs, not a current offer.

Why your statement can differ from the estimate

Issuers commonly calculate interest from daily balances and transaction dates, may compound or allocate payments across different APR buckets, and can apply grace-period or residual-interest rules. New purchases, cash advances, credits, reversals, late payments, statement-cycle length, rounding, and fee posting can all change the amount.

Use the ledger to plan and audit—not to replace the statement. Re-enter the latest balance and terms after each statement. If a payoff quote is available, use it for the actual settlement amount.

When a payoff result is a warning rather than a plan

If the minimum path grows, the planned payment does not close within 600 months, or even the target payment is unaffordable after essentials, the useful conclusion is not to optimize the calculator further. Contact the card provider early, ask about hardship options, and consider free, impartial debt guidance available in your country.

Do not use a new balance transfer to conceal unaffordable ongoing spending or assume future refinancing will be available. This page does not assess suitability, insolvency options, legal protections, credit reporting, or tax consequences.

Frequently asked questions

Primary sources and review status

• CFPB — Credit-card statement three-year payoff disclosure
• CFPB — Residual or trailing interest
• CFPB — New purchases after a balance transfer
• CFPB — Deferred-interest promotions
• CFPB — Regulation Z periodic statements
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Paying off credit-card debt
• MoneyHelper — Simple guide to credit cards
• MoneyHelper — Managing credit well
• FCA — Help for consumers in persistent credit-card debt
• ASIC Moneysmart — Credit-card calculator
• ASIC Moneysmart — Credit-card balance transfers

Sources and model boundaries were checked on 2026-10-07. CalculatorGeek Editorial Team reviewed and approved the full finance and insurance package on 2026-10-08. The cited organizations supplied source material; they did not review or endorse this CalculatorGeek package. Product terms, policy forms, laws, regulatory guidance and rates can change; current written documents and applicable authorities control.