Credit Card Minimum Payment Calculator

What this estimate assumes

• The minimum payment each month is modeled as whichever is greater: the percentage you enter times the remaining balance, or the flat dollar floor — recalculated every month as the balance changes. This matches how most card issuers structure minimum payments, though your issuer's exact formula may differ slightly.
• Interest compounds monthly on the remaining balance, and assumes no new charges are added to the card while it's being paid down.
• The optional fixed-payment comparison assumes that same dollar amount is paid every month, instead of a shrinking minimum, until the balance reaches zero.

How to use this calculator

1. Enter your current card balance in "Current balance ($)."
2. Enter your card's interest rate in "Interest rate (APR %)" — this is on your monthly statement or card agreement.
3. Enter your minimum payment formula using "Minimum payment (% of balance)" and "Minimum payment floor ($)." Most issuers use something like "2% of balance, or $25-35, whichever is greater," and the exact numbers are printed on your statement.
4. Optionally, enter a fixed monthly payment you're considering in "Or pay a fixed amount instead ($)" to see how much faster it pays off the balance compared to the shrinking minimum.
5. Click "Calculate payoff time" to see how many months — and how much total interest — it takes under minimum payments alone, compared against your fixed-payment scenario if you entered one.

Worked example

Say you have a $4,500 balance at 24% APR, with a minimum payment formula of 2% of the balance or a $25 floor, whichever is greater.

The monthly interest rate is the APR divided by 12: 24% ÷ 12 = 2% per month, or 0.02.

In the first month, interest charged is $4,500 × 0.02 = $90.

The minimum payment is whichever is greater of 2% of the balance ($4,500 × 0.02 = $90) or the $25 floor — so $90.

Notice something important here: that month's minimum payment ($90) is almost exactly equal to that month's interest charge ($90). Almost none of it is actually going toward the balance itself.

This is the mechanism that makes minimum-only payoff so slow: as the balance very gradually drops, 2% of that now-slightly-smaller balance also drops, which shrinks next month's minimum payment too — so the payment keeps chasing the interest instead of pulling ahead of it. On a balance and rate like this, paying only the modeled minimum can realistically stretch payoff into the 15-25+ year range, with total interest paid often landing at 2-4x the original balance. (Run your own numbers through the calculator above for the specific figures on your balance, rate, and minimum-payment formula — the exact month count depends on details a rough estimate like this can't capture.)

Now compare that to entering a fixed $150/month payment instead of the shrinking minimum. Because $150 is well above the $90 of interest accruing in month one, a real, growing chunk goes toward principal every single month instead of a shrinking sliver — which is exactly why the fixed-payment comparison on this calculator typically shows a payoff measured in years rather than decades, with total interest a small fraction of the minimum-only scenario.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my minimum payment the same two months in a row sometimes?

If your card uses a dollar floor (e.g., "2% of balance or $35, whichever is greater"), the floor wins whenever 2% of your balance would be less than that dollar amount — which, on smaller balances, can be true for a long stretch, so the minimum payment can sit flat at the floor amount even as the balance slowly moves.

Why does paying only the minimum take so long?

Because the minimum is recalculated as a percentage of whatever the balance happens to be that month, the payment shrinks right along with the balance. Early progress chips away a little principal, but most of the payment just covers that month's interest — so the pace of payoff keeps slowing down rather than speeding up.

How much would a fixed payment actually save me?

Enter the same balance, APR, and minimum-payment formula, then fill in a fixed dollar amount in the optional field. The calculator runs both scenarios side by side so you can see the actual difference in months and total interest for your numbers — in general, the bigger the gap between your fixed payment and the shrinking minimum, the bigger the savings.

Does this account for the interest rate changing?

No — it assumes your APR stays constant for the life of the balance. Many cards have variable APRs tied to the prime rate, so your real payoff timeline could be longer or shorter if your rate moves. Re-run the calculator with a new APR if your rate changes.

What if I keep using the card while paying it down?

This calculator assumes no new charges are added to the balance while it's being paid off. New purchases reset the math — every dollar you charge is a dollar that has to be paid down again, usually at the same high APR, which is part of why minimum-payment payoff plans fail in practice even when the math on paper looks workable.