Credit Card Payoff Calculator
How long the balance takes to clear, what the interest costs, and what paying only the minimum really means.
Paying £100.00 a month against £3,000 at 24.9% APR clears the card in 4 years, costing £1,743.66 in interest. Paying only the minimum would take 28y 9m and cost £5,998 — £4,255 more.
Breakdown
- Monthly payment
- £100.00
- Total interest
- £1,743.66
- Total repaid
- £4,743.66
- Cleared by
- August 2030
- Interest as a share of the balance
- 58%
- Saved vs minimum only
- £4,254.82
Show your working
What different payments would do
| Monthly payment | Time to clear | Interest |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum only | 28y 9m | £5,998 |
| £100 a month | 4 years | £1,744 |
| £150 a month | 2y 3m | £916 |
| £200 a month | 1y 7m | £631 |
Same balance and rate — only the monthly payment changes.
Balance over time
The gap between the lines is what the minimum-payment habit costs in time and interest.
Assumptions
- No further spending on the card, and every payment made on time.
- The minimum payment is taken as the greater of £5 and 1% of the balance plus that month’s interest, the common UK convention; your issuer may differ.
- Interest is applied monthly at the APR divided by twelve; cards that compound daily will differ slightly.
- Fees, late charges, promotional 0% periods and rate changes are not included.
Credit card payoff facts
- What does paying only the minimum cost?
- On a £3,000 balance at 24.9% APR, minimum-only repayments take 28 years 9 months and cost £5,998 in interest — twice the balance itself.
- How is the UK minimum payment worked out?
- Typically the greater of £5 and 1% of the balance plus that month's interest. Because it shrinks as the balance shrinks, progress slows to a crawl.
- Does a small increase help?
- Substantially. Every extra pound comes straight off the balance interest is charged on. On a £3,000 balance at 24.9%, going from £100 to £150 a month cuts the payoff from 4 years to 2 years 3 months and saves £828 in interest.
- What if my payment is below the monthly interest?
- The balance grows rather than falls, and the card never clears. At 24.9% APR a £3,000 balance accrues about £62 of interest in the first month alone.
Understanding credit card repayment
Why the minimum is a trap
A minimum payment is designed to keep the account in good standing, not to clear the debt. It is usually a percentage of the balance plus that month's interest, so as the balance falls the payment falls with it.
The result is a very long tail: the last few hundred pounds can take years, because by then the payment is close to the £5 floor.
Fixed payments change everything
Paying a fixed amount each month, rather than whatever the minimum happens to be, is the single biggest lever. The payment stays the same while the interest portion shrinks, so more goes to the balance every month.
This is why the two curves in the chart diverge so sharply — they are the same debt under two different habits.
APR and how interest is applied
APR is the annual cost. This calculator converts it to a monthly rate by dividing by twelve, which is how most card statements work in practice.
Cards that compound daily will differ slightly, and a promotional 0% period changes the picture entirely until it ends.
Common mistakes and limits
The figures assume no further spending on the card. Adding new purchases while repaying is the most common reason real payoff takes longer than any calculator predicts.
Fees, late charges and changes to your rate are not modelled. If you are struggling with repayments, free debt advice is available from StepChange and Citizens Advice.
Related calculations
The same compounding runs in your favour on savings — the compound interest calculator shows the other side of it, and simple vs compound interest explains why the two differ so sharply over time. For a fixed-term loan rather than a revolving balance, use the loan payment table.
Worked example
A £3,000 balance at 24.9% APR is charged about £62 of interest in the first month. Paying a fixed £100 a month means roughly £38 comes off the balance to begin with — but as the balance falls, the interest falls and more of each £100 does real work.
The card clears in 4 years, costing £1,744 in interest. Paying only the minimum instead stretches the same debt across 28 years 9 months and £5,998 of interest — twice what was borrowed.
Evidence & Methodology
How This Page Is Grounded
Method
Runs the balance down month by month: interest is charged at the APR divided by twelve, then the payment is deducted. The same loop serves a fixed payment and the shrinking minimum, so the two are directly comparable. The payment needed to clear by a chosen month is found by bisection on that same simulation rather than a closed form, so the figure cannot disagree with the schedule it produces.
Important limitation: Assumes no further spending, every payment on time, and a constant rate. The minimum payment is taken as the greater of a five pound floor and one per cent of the balance plus that month’s interest, the common UK convention; individual issuers differ. Fees, late charges, promotional zero per cent periods and daily compounding are not modelled.
Primary Sources
- Credit card repayments and minimum payments MoneyHelper
- Credit card market study: persistent debt remedies Financial Conduct Authority
Quality Checks
Payoff month, total interest and the minimum-only comparison checked against worked examples, including the case where a payment below the monthly interest never clears the balance.
See how sources are selected and corrections are handled in our Editorial & Calculation Methodology, and which automated checks this page has to pass in How We Test.
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