How to use this calculator
- Enter your current balance. Use the balance on your latest statement, or today's balance from your card app.
- Enter your APR. It's printed on your statement next to “Annual Percentage Rate”. If you have several rates (purchases, cash advances, a promo rate), use the purchase APR — or run the calculator once per balance.
- Choose your goal. Pick Pay a fixed amount to see when a payment you can afford will clear the debt, or Pay off by a date to find the payment needed to be debt-free in a set number of months.
- Read the results. You'll see your payoff date, total interest, the interest you save compared with minimum payments, a balance chart and a year-by-year schedule. Use Copy link to save or share your plan.
How credit card interest is calculated
Your APR is a yearly rate, but card issuers charge interest daily. Most divide the APR by 365 to get a daily periodic rate, multiply it by your average daily balance for the billing cycle, and then multiply by the number of days in the cycle. At 22.99% APR, the daily rate is about 0.063%, so a $6,500 balance costs roughly $4.09 a day — about $124.50 a month.
Two rules make a big difference:
- The grace period. If you pay your full statement balance by the due date, you normally pay no interest on new purchases. Once you carry a balance, you lose the grace period and interest starts on new purchases from the day you make them.
- Interest compounds. Unpaid interest becomes part of the balance, so next month you pay interest on last month's interest. That's why small payments barely dent a high-APR balance.
This calculator applies interest monthly at APR ÷ 12, the standard way to model card payoff. The result is typically within a few dollars of what your issuer's daily method produces.
Why minimum payments take so long
Many large issuers set the minimum payment at 1% of the balance plus that month's interest (with a floor of around $25–$40). Because the minimum shrinks as your balance shrinks, most of every payment goes to interest, and the debt drags on for decades. That's why the Credit CARD Act requires your statement to show how long payoff will take at the minimum, and the payment needed to pay it off in three years.
| Monthly payment | Time to pay off | Total interest |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum only (starts at $189.53) | 21 years 6 months | $11,363 |
| $200 fixed | 4 years 4 months | $3,771 |
| $250 fixed | 3 years 1 month | $2,582 |
| $300 fixed | 2 years 5 months | $1,979 |
| $400 fixed | 1 year 8 months | $1,363 |
| $500 fixed | 1 year 4 months | $1,047 |
Notice that a fixed $200 payment — only about $10 more than the first minimum — cuts the payoff time from over 21 years to just over 4, and saves more than $7,500 in interest. The single most powerful move is to keep paying the same dollar amount every month instead of letting your payment fall with the minimum.
Worked example
Maria owes $6,500 on a card charging 22.99% APR. Her first month's interest is $6,500 × 22.99% ÷ 12 = $124.53. If she pays $250, $125.47 goes to principal and her balance drops to $6,374.53. Next month's interest is a little smaller, so a little more of her $250 goes to principal — and the process accelerates.
At $250 a month, Maria is debt-free in 37 months and pays $2,582 in interest. If she wants to be done in 24 months, she needs to pay $340.39 a month; to finish in 12 months, $611.46. Moving the balance to a 0% balance-transfer card could save even more — run the numbers with our balance transfer calculator.
7 ways to pay off a credit card faster
- Fix your payment. Pick a dollar amount and keep paying it even as the minimum falls.
- Stop adding new charges. Switch day-to-day spending to debit or cash until the card is clear.
- Target one card at a time. Pay minimums everywhere and throw all extra money at the highest APR (avalanche) or smallest balance (snowball). Compare both with the debt payoff calculator.
- Ask for a lower APR. If you've paid on time for a year, call your issuer and ask. Even a few points matter on a large balance.
- Use a 0% balance transfer. Transfer fees are usually 3%–5%, but 15–21 interest-free months can save far more. Aim to clear the balance before the promotion ends.
- Consider a consolidation loan. A fixed-rate personal loan at a lower APR gives you one payment and a guaranteed end date. Check the true cost, including origination fees, with the debt consolidation calculator.
- Put windfalls to work. Tax refunds, bonuses and side-income payments applied directly to principal shorten the payoff dramatically.
The formula behind the numbers
With a monthly rate r = APR ÷ 12, balance B and fixed payment P:
If the payment P is less than or equal to the first month's interest (r·B), the balance never goes down and the calculator will tell you. Total interest is the sum of each month's interest charge until the balance reaches zero; the final payment is usually a little smaller than the others.
Frequently asked questions
How long will it take to pay off my credit card?
How much should I pay each month to pay off my credit card in 12, 24 or 36 months?
Does this calculator include new purchases?
Why is my real payoff slightly different from the calculator?
Is it better to pay off one card or spread payments across all of them?
Will paying off my credit card raise my credit score?
Sources
- Credit cards — consumer tools and answers — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Regulation Z §1026.7 — periodic statement disclosures (minimum payment warning) — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- G.19 Consumer Credit — interest rates on credit card plans — Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System