Minimum Payment Calculator

1. Enter your Credit Card Balance. Use your current statement balance. If you carry a balance month to month and add new charges, use the balance you want to focus on paying off. Do not add new charges in your mental model while paying down existing debt.
2. Enter the APR. Find this on your statement or card agreement. Most credit cards charge between 18% and 29.99% APR. The average in 2024 was around 22%. Even a few percentage points difference in APR significantly changes how long payoff takes.
3. Set the Minimum Percent. Most cards charge 1% to 2% of the balance or $25, whichever is greater. This calculator defaults to 2%. Check your card agreement for your exact minimum payment formula.
4. Enter a Fixed Higher Payment. Try your current minimum first, then increase it. Even paying $50 or $100 more per month can cut years off the payoff and save thousands in interest.
5. Compare the two columns. The difference in total interest and payoff time is often shocking and is the most powerful motivation to pay more than the minimum every month.

Credit card minimum payments are deliberately designed to extend your repayment period and maximize interest paid. The minimum shrinks as your balance shrinks, which means payments get smaller over time even though the interest rate never changes.

Monthly Interest = Balance × (APR / 12)

Minimum Payment = max(Balance × min%, $25)

New Balance = Old Balance + Monthly Interest - Payment

Worked example: $5,000 balance at 22% APR, 2% minimum payment.

Month 1:
  Interest    = $5,000 × (0.22/12) = $91.67
  Min Payment = max($5,000 × 0.02, $25) = $100
  New Balance = $5,000 + $91.67 - $100 = $4,991.67

Month 2:
  Interest    = $4,991.67 × 0.01833 = $91.51
  Min Payment = max($4,991.67 × 0.02, $25) = $99.83
  New Balance = $4,983.35

Notice how the minimum payment shrinks from $100 to $99.83 because it is based on the declining balance. This creates a slowly declining payment that stretches repayment to 15 to 20 years on a $5,000 balance. Total interest paid using minimums only: over $4,000 on a $5,000 original balance.

Paying a flat $200 per month instead cuts payoff to about 30 months and total interest to roughly $1,100 — a savings of nearly $3,000.