Quick answer
A credit card payoff calculator turns a balance, an APR and a fixed monthly payment into a payoff date and total interest. A $6,500 balance at 24.99% APR paid at $250 a month clears in 38 months with $2,957 of interest. Paying only the issuer minimum on the same balance takes 262 months and costs $12,402 of interest.
How the Credit Card Payoff works, step by step
Enter the balance, the APR and the fixed amount you can pay each month. The calculator charges a month of interest, subtracts your payment, and repeats on the smaller balance until it reaches zero, counting months and adding up interest. It also runs the minimum-payment path alongside, modelling the minimum as one month's interest plus 1% of the balance, with a $25 floor — the formula most large issuers use.
A minimum payment shrinks as the balance shrinks, so most of it keeps going to interest. On this balance the first minimum is about $200, but it falls every month. Freezing the payment at $250 — only $50 above that first minimum — clears the debt in 38 months instead of 262. The discipline is not paying more; it is refusing to pay less as the balance falls.
Check the warning case first. If your payment is smaller than one month's interest, the balance grows while you pay. On $6,500 at 24.99%, one month of interest is about $135 — a $125 payment leaves you $10 deeper in debt every month, and the calculator shows the debt never clearing. Any workable plan starts above that line, and the further above it, the faster the principal share of each payment grows.
Put your APR in context. The Federal Reserve's G.19 release put the average rate on card accounts actually charged interest at 22.36% in the third quarter of 2026. A 24.99% card sits above that average but well inside the normal range for store and rewards cards. Card APRs are usually variable, tied to the prime rate, so the rate on your statement can move — the calculator's answer assumes today's rate holds.
Use the saving figure to judge extra payments. Raising the payment from $250 to $350 clears this balance in 24 months instead of 38 and cuts interest from $2,957 to $1,804 — the extra $100 a month buys $1,153 of avoided interest and 14 months of freedom. That is the return on every spare dollar at a 24.99% APR: a guaranteed 24.99%, which no savings account or investment matches with certainty.
The formula
Each month: interest = balance × APR ÷ 12; new balance = balance + interest − payment. Minimum payment (modelled) = the larger of $25 and interest + 1% of the balance. Total interest is the sum of the monthly interest charges.
Worked example — try it on the calculator above
Worked example: $6,500 at 24.99% APR, $250 a month
Month one: interest is $6,500 × 24.99% ÷ 12, about $135, so $115 of the $250 reduces the balance. As the balance falls, the interest share shrinks and the principal share grows. The debt clears in month 38, and total interest is $2,957 — about 46 cents of interest per dollar borrowed. The minimum-payment path on the same balance takes 262 months, nearly 22 years, and costs $12,402 of interest. Raise the payment to $350 and the debt clears in about 24 months with roughly $1,804 of interest, saving $1,153 for $100 more a month. The calculator also shows the debt-free date, so the 38 months become a calendar month you can plan around.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are credit card minimum payments calculated?
Most issuers charge the greater of a flat floor (often $25) or the month's interest plus 1% of the balance, sometimes plus fees. Because the payment falls as the balance falls, minimum-only repayment of a large balance can take over 20 years — your statement must show how long, and what a fixed higher payment would save.
Does a 0% balance transfer help?
It can: moving a balance to a 0% promotional APR (typically 12 to 21 months) stops interest entirely, so every dollar of payment cuts principal. Count the transfer fee — usually 3% to 5% of the balance — and have a plan for the end of the promotion, when the remaining balance reverts to a high standard APR.
Should I pay off the card with the highest APR or the smallest balance first?
Highest APR first (the avalanche method) always costs less interest. Smallest balance first (the snowball method) costs more but clears individual cards sooner, which some people find keeps them going. The interest difference on moderate balances is often a few hundred dollars — the method you will actually stick to is the better one.
Will paying off my cards improve my credit score?
Usually, yes, mainly through utilisation: balances relative to credit limits are a major scoring factor, and keeping reported utilisation below about 30% — lower is better — helps. Keep paid-off cards open unless there is an annual fee problem, because closing them cuts your total limit and raises utilisation on the rest.
Estimates, not advice. This calculator provides educational estimates based on the inputs you enter and the assumptions shown on this page. It is not financial, tax or investment advice, and it cannot see your full situation. Verify important figures against official sources, and consider a qualified professional for decisions about your own money. See our Disclaimer and Methodology.