Credit Card Payoff Calculator

The tool assumes you pay the same amount every month and stop using the card. Each month it charges interest at APR ÷ 12 on the remaining balance, applies your payment to that interest first and uses the rest to cut the balance. The number of months is then rounded up to a whole payment.

With the defaults, a $5,000 balance at 24% APR and $250 a month takes 2 yr 2 mo (26 payments). The tool shows $1,500 of interest and $6,500 paid in total.

One detail to know: the totals count every payment as a full $250, including the last one. In a month-by-month schedule the 26th payment is smaller, and interest comes to about $1,449.36. The gap grows when the final payment is tiny. At $500 a month the tool shows $1,000 of interest over 12 months, while a full schedule comes to about $635.16. Read the interest line as an upper bound.

If your payment is no bigger than one month's interest, the balance can't fall. The tool then shows “Never — payment only covers interest” and the monthly interest on its own. At $5,000 and 24% APR that is $100, so any payment of $100 or less leaves you where you started.

Just clearing that line is not much better. These are the tool's figures for the same card:

At 0% APR the formula can't produce a figure and the result shows no number. In that case divide the balance by the payment: $5,000 ÷ $250 is 20 months.

This tool does not model a minimum payment. The minimum is set by each issuer in the cardholder agreement. Common methods are a percentage of the balance, or a smaller percentage plus that month's interest and fees, often with a fixed-dollar floor, but the formula varies by issuer, so check yours. Because a balance-based minimum shrinks as the balance shrinks, paying only the minimum takes far longer than holding any fixed payment.

For minimum-only figures, use your statement. Under Regulation Z (12 CFR 1026.7(b)(12)), in force since the CARD Act of 2009, every periodic statement must show:

• a “Minimum Payment Warning” that paying only the minimum costs more in interest;
• the estimated time to repay by paying only the minimum, and the total cost;
• unless repayment would take 3 years or less, the monthly payment that clears the balance in 36 months, its total cost and the savings.

Enter the 36-month figure from your statement to see it on the same terms as other options. For $5,000 at 24%, the exact payment is about $196.16. Typed in as $196.16, it shows 3 yr 1 mo, because the fraction of a cent dropped from each payment leaves a few cents for a 37th month. Round up to $197 and it shows 3 yr 0 mo.

Your statement may differ slightly from this tool. Your issuer may calculate interest differently, the billing cycle length varies, and fees or new charges change the balance.

If parts of your balance carry different APRs, such as purchases and a cash advance, run each part separately with the share of the payment you expect to go to it.