Credit Card Minimum Payment Calculator — The True Cost
Model minimum-payment payoff using common 2% or $20 floor rules and compare to a fixed payoff plan.
About minimum payments
Many issuers use a percentage of balance with a dollar floor. Paying only the minimum can stretch payoff for years.
Months to payoff
52
Paying $150.00/mo at 21.52% APR on a $5,000.00 balance.
Total interest
$2,686.15
Total paid
$7,686.15
Interest saved vs minimum
$28,161.24
Total interest
$2,686.15
Total paid
$7,686.15
Interest saved vs minimum
$28,161.24
This month's payment split
$150.00
Interest $89.67 · 60%
Principal $60.33 · 40%
Early payments go mostly to interest at high APR.
Minimum payment vs your plan
You save $28,161.24 in interest and finish 548 months sooner.
About minimum payments
Many issuers use a percentage of balance with a dollar floor. Paying only the minimum can stretch payoff for years.
Months to payoff
52
Paying $150.00/mo at 21.52% APR on a $5,000.00 balance.
Total interest
$2,686.15
Total paid
$7,686.15
Interest saved vs minimum
$28,161.24
Total interest
$2,686.15
Total paid
$7,686.15
Interest saved vs minimum
$28,161.24
This month's payment split
$150.00
Interest $89.67 · 60%
Principal $60.33 · 40%
Early payments go mostly to interest at high APR.
Minimum payment vs your plan
You save $28,161.24 in interest and finish 548 months sooner.
| # | Month | Payment | Principal | Interest | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 2026 | $150.00 | $60.33 | $89.67 | $4,939.67 |
| 2 | Aug 2026 | $150.00 | $61.42 | $88.58 | $4,878.25 |
| 3 | Sep 2026 | $150.00 | $62.52 | $87.48 | $4,815.73 |
| 4 | Oct 2026 | $150.00 | $63.64 | $86.36 | $4,752.09 |
| 5 | Nov 2026 | $150.00 | $64.78 | $85.22 | $4,687.31 |
| 6 | Dec 2026 | $150.00 | $65.94 | $84.06 | $4,621.37 |
Swipe to see all columns
Planning estimates only — not financial or lending advice. Actual terms depend on your issuer's minimum payment rules, fees, and payment posting dates. Check your statement or issuer payoff quote before changing payments.
What the minimum payment is for — and when it works against you
Fine as a short-term tool
- You need to get through one tight month without a late mark on your credit report — and go back to bigger payments right after.
- The balance is very small, where the $20 floor clears the debt in a few months anyway.
- The card sits in a 0% intro window, so every dollar of the payment goes to principal — just watch the promo end date.
Quietly working against you
- You carry a balance at typical rates. At the Fed-average 21.52% APR, a 2% minimum barely outruns each month's interest, so the balance crawls down for decades.
- You treat it as the issuer's recommended payment. It is designed to keep the account current, not to get you debt-free.
- You keep spending on the card while paying the minimum — once you revolve, new purchases usually accrue interest immediately, restarting the math every month.
Worked examples
Both runs use the calculator above with its default minimum rule — enter the same numbers and you'll see the same results.
Minimum only, average APR
$5,000 balance at 21.52% APR, paying the issuer-style minimum — 2% of the balance with a $20 floor
The projection still isn't finished at the calculator's 50-year cap: 600 months in, $30,847.39 of interest has accrued on a $5,000 debt.
The minimum shrinks as the balance shrinks, so progress slows every month. That sliding payment is the trap this page is named after.
The same debt with a fixed $250
$5,000 balance at 21.52% APR, paying a fixed $250 every month
Paid off in 25 months with $1,247.82 in interest. Even a fixed $150 finishes in 52 months at $2,686.15.
Any fixed amount above the minimum turns an open-ended debt into one with a date — the size of the payment just sets how near that date is.
How this is calculated
PaydownBase calculates credit card payoff month by month: each period, interest accrues on the remaining balance at your APR divided by 12, your payment covers interest first, and any remainder reduces principal.
In fixed-payment mode, we iterate until the balance reaches zero. In target-date mode, we solve for the payment that clears the balance in your chosen number of months using standard amortization. Minimum-payment comparisons use a common issuer formula: max(2% × balance, $20), based on CFPB Regulation Z disclosure examples.
Monthly interest on revolving balance
Interestₘ = Balanceₘ₋₁ × (APR / 12)Principalₘ = Payment − Interestₘ. Balanceₘ = Balanceₘ₋₁ − Principalₘ.
Federal Reserve G.19 · CFPB Reg Z Appendix M2 · FinRED minimum payment guide · Our methodology →
Common traps
The minimum falls as the balance falls.
Two percent of a shrinking balance is a shrinking payment, which is why minimum-only payoff stretches across decades. Pin your payment at the first month's dollar amount instead of letting it slide down with the statement.
Your issuer's formula may differ from 2%.
Some cards charge 1% of the balance plus that month's interest and fees. The minimum rule inputs above let you match the formula on your own statement instead of trusting a generic one.
On-time is not the same as progress.
Minimum-only payments keep the account current and your credit report clean while the balance barely moves. The clean report can hide the fact that the debt is running in place.
Revolving usually cancels your grace period.
Once you carry a balance, most cards charge interest on new purchases from the day of the swipe. Paying the minimum while still using the card restarts the payoff math every month.
Related calculators
If most of your payment is going to interest, a 0% window is worth pricing out — the balance transfer calculator weighs the promo savings against the transfer fee.
Common questions
Enter the APR on your statement for purchases or cash advances, whichever applies. Our default preset (21.52%) is the Fed G.19 average for accounts assessed interest in Q1 2026 — replace it with your actual rate.