Credit Card Payoff Calculator
This credit card payoff calculator tells you how long it will take to clear a card balance and how much that debt will really cost you. Enter the current balance, the annual interest rate (APR) your card charges, and the fixed amount you plan to pay each month, and it instantly returns the number of months until the balance reaches zero, the total you will hand over, and the total interest paid along the way. It is the fastest way to see why paying more than the minimum saves you money and how a higher monthly payment shortens the road to being debt-free.
If the monthly payment does not cover the period's interest, the debt is never paid off and grows over time. The results are an estimate: they ignore fees, late charges and rate changes, and assume a fixed payment every month.
Months to pay off
Total to pay
Total interest
This payment never pays off the debt
Publicidad
How it works
The calculator treats your card like an amortizing loan with a fixed monthly payment. Each month interest is added to the balance at the monthly rate — the annual rate divided by twelve — and then your payment is subtracted. The number of months to pay off follows from the standard amortization formula n = -log(1 - (B·r) / p) / log(1 + r), where B is the balance, r is the monthly rate and p is the monthly payment; the result is rounded up because the last payment finishes the debt. The total paid is the payment multiplied by the number of months, and the interest is that total minus the original balance. If the monthly payment is not larger than the interest charged on the balance in the first month, the balance never falls and the debt can never be paid off with that payment.
Publicidad
Preguntas frecuentes
- Why is paying only the minimum so expensive?
- The minimum payment is usually just a small percentage of the balance, barely more than the interest charged each month. Because so little goes toward the actual balance, it can take years or even decades to clear the debt, and you end up paying far more in interest than you originally borrowed. Paying even a little extra each month dramatically shortens the payoff time and cuts the total interest.
- How does the calculator work out the number of months?
- It assumes a fixed monthly payment and applies your card's monthly interest rate (the annual rate divided by twelve) to the balance each month before subtracting the payment. Using the amortization formula, it finds the smallest number of whole months in which the balance reaches zero and rounds up, since the final payment settles whatever is left.
- What does "this payment never pays off the debt" mean?
- If your monthly payment is equal to or smaller than the interest added to the balance in the first month, the balance stays the same or grows every month. In that case no fixed payment of that size will ever clear the debt. You need to pay more than the monthly interest for the balance to start falling.
- Does a higher interest rate really matter that much?
- Yes. Credit cards often charge some of the highest interest rates of any consumer debt. A higher APR means more of each payment is eaten by interest and less reduces the balance, so the payoff takes longer and costs more. Even a few percentage points can add up to a large difference over the life of the debt.
- Are the results exact?
- They are a close estimate. Real cards can have variable rates, fees, penalty charges for late payments, and different ways of applying interest, and your actual payment may vary month to month. The calculator assumes a single fixed rate and a constant monthly payment, which is ideal for comparing scenarios and planning, but your statement may differ slightly.