How it works
Credit card interest is charged monthly at the APR divided by 12, on the balance you carry. At high APRs, a small payment can mostly go to interest, stretching payoff over years.
Enter a fixed monthly payment to see how long payoff takes, or a target number of months to see the payment you would need. Stop adding new charges to the card for the result to hold.
If you carry several cards, the debt payoff calculator compares the snowball and avalanche methods for paying them down together.
Formula
Each month: interest = balance × APR ÷ 12; months = −ln(1 − B × r ÷ P) ÷ ln(1 + r)
Questions people ask
Why does paying only the minimum take so long?
Minimum payments are often about 1–3% of the balance plus interest, so most of each payment covers interest and the balance falls slowly. Paying a fixed amount above the minimum shortens payoff dramatically.
Does a balance transfer help?
A 0% balance transfer can save a lot of interest if you pay the balance off before the promotional period ends. Transfer fees are typically 3–5% of the amount moved.
How is credit card interest calculated exactly?
Most issuers use the average daily balance times a daily rate (APR ÷ 365). The monthly method here gives a very close estimate.