See how long it takes to pay off a credit card balance and the interest you'll pay, comparing the minimum due against a larger fixed payment.
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Minimum payments are designed to keep you as a customer for as long as possible, not to get you out of debt quickly. They are calculated as a small percentage of what you owe, so early on almost every dollar goes to interest while the principal barely moves — and the balance keeps charging new interest every single month.
Minimum payments are sized so that most early payments go to interest, not principal. Because interest is re-charged every month on the remaining balance, the balance barely shrinks — and with a large balance, the monthly interest alone can exceed the minimum, so the debt never decreases and grows instead.
Interest each month is the outstanding balance times the monthly rate (APR ÷ 12). Every extra dollar you apply to principal stops generating interest for all future months, so a larger fixed payment shortens the payoff time dramatically and cuts the total interest bill.
Issuers typically set the minimum as a percentage of the balance (often around 2–3%) or a small fixed floor. As the balance falls, the minimum falls too — which makes the debt feel manageable, even though the payoff can stretch to years of high-interest payments.
The tool converts your APR to a monthly rate (APR ÷ 100 ÷ 12) and charges that rate on the balance at the start of each month. Each simulated month: interest = balance × monthly rate, then the payment is applied, capped at the balance plus that month's interest.
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If you just finished with Credit Card Payment Calculator, the natural next steps are Debt Payoff Calculator, Loan Prepayment Calculator, EMI Loan Calculator, or browse every tool in Cross-border Finance.