Quick answer On a card charging 22% interest, paying only the minimum turns a $5,000 balance into nearly twenty years of payments and about $8,000 in interest. Move the balance, the rate and what you can pay each month to see when you are done and how much the bank keeps in interest.
How your balance falls month by month
What if you pay a little more?
Estimate: monthly interest = APR ÷ 12 on the balance, with no new purchases or fees. The minimum is this month’s interest plus 1% of the balance, with a $25 floor, which is the most common formula. Your issuer may use a different one.
How to read the result
The calculator starts from what you owe today and assumes you stop using the card while you pay it off. Each month the issuer adds interest on the remaining balance and your payment comes off. If your payment barely covers the interest, the balance hardly moves, which is why the orange minimum-payment line falls so slowly.
The 22% preset is not made up: the Federal Reserve put the average rate on credit card accounts assessed interest at 22.15% in the second quarter of 2026. Swap it for the rate on your statement; store cards and credit-builder cards often charge more than 25%.
The gap between paying the minimum and a slightly larger fixed amount is almost always measured in years and thousands of dollars. We go through it step by step in why the minimum payment is the most expensive way to pay.
Four ways to finish sooner
- A fixed automatic payment. Pick the amount that gets you to a reasonable payoff date and set it up as an automatic payment, so you do not depend on remembering it or on the minimum the issuer shows each month.
- Ask for a lower rate. Call the number on the back of the card and ask whether they can lower your APR or have a hardship program. They will not always say yes, but asking does not affect your score.
- Move the balance to a 0% card. It can save a lot, but there is a transfer fee (usually 3% to 5%), the promotion lasts a few months and then the regular rate returns. It only pays off if you can clear the debt within the promotional period. See also the hidden fees on credit cards.
- Nonprofit credit counseling. If you owe on several cards and cannot keep up, an accredited agency can set up a repayment plan with reduced interest. Be wary of anyone who charges upfront or promises to erase debt.
Several cards: avalanche or snowball
Always pay the minimum on every card and put everything extra on one. With the avalanche method you attack the highest rate first: it costs you the least money. With the snowball you start with the smallest balance: you pay a little more interest, but you close a debt sooner and that helps you keep going. When one is done, roll its payment into the next.
You can run the calculator card by card to see how long each one takes. And as your balances fall, so does your credit utilization, the number that moves your score fastest.
The notice your issuer must give you
Since the Credit CARD Act of 2009, every statement must include a box showing how long it would take to pay the balance making only minimum payments, how much you would pay in total, and how much you would need to pay each month to finish in three years. Compare those figures with the calculator: if they are close, your issuer uses a similar minimum formula; if not, trust your statement.
Sources
- Federal Reserve, G.19 Consumer Credit release (interest rate on credit card plans, accounts assessed interest).
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, credit card guide.
- National Foundation for Credit Counseling, nonprofit credit counseling directory.
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