Case 1
- Balance you carry
- 3000
- Purchase APR
- 14.4%
- Your monthly payment (0 = pay the minimum)
- 0
- Minimum: percent of balance
- 3%
- Minimum: dollar floor
- 20
10 years 6 months
Open with these valuesCredit Card Payoff Calculator
10 years 6 months
Result: 10 years 6 monthsLeave the payment at 0 and the card's minimum applies: a percentage of the balance with a dollar floor. $3,000 at 14.4% takes 10 years and 6 months that way. Pay a fixed $103.12 instead and it is gone in 3 years. The minimum payment is not a plan — it is the slowest legal way out.
The numbers at a glance
Held fixed: Balance you carry 3,000.00, Purchase APR 14.400 %, Your monthly payment (0 = pay the minimum) 0.00, Minimum: percent of balance 3.00 %.
| Minimum: dollar floor | Result |
|---|---|
| 0.00 | 733 |
| 5.00 | 202 |
| 10.00 | 164 |
| 15.00 | 142 |
| 20.00Your value | 126 |
| 25.00 | 114 |
| 30.00 | 104 |
| 35.00 | 95 |
| 40.00 | 88 |
Worked examples
Case 2
- Balance you carry
- 3000
- Purchase APR
- 14.4%
- Your monthly payment (0 = pay the minimum)
- 103.12
- Minimum: percent of balance
- 3%
- Minimum: dollar floor
- 20
3 years
Open with these valuesCase 3
- Balance you carry
- 2000
- Purchase APR
- 19.99%
- Your monthly payment (0 = pay the minimum)
- 100
- Minimum: percent of balance
- 2%
- Minimum: dollar floor
- 25
2 years 1 month
Open with these valuesHow it's calculated
pay max(your payment, min % × balance, floor) monthly; count months until the balance is zero
- StepEnter the balance you actually carry and the card's purchase APR.
- StepLeave your payment at 0 to follow the card's minimum, exactly as the statement box does.
- StepRead the percentage and floor off your card agreement — 2–3 % and $20–$35 are the usual terms.
- ResultNow type a fixed payment you can hold, and watch the month count collapse.
What this number means
A card has no term. A loan is handed to you with an end date; a card hands you a minimum payment, and the end date is whatever falls out of it. That is why US card statements carry the box required by 12 CFR 1026.7(b)(11): how long the balance takes on the minimum alone, and what a three-year payoff would cost each month instead. This calculator is that box, with the assumptions pulled out where you can change them. The minimum is modelled the way issuers set it — a percentage of the balance, never less than a fixed dollar floor. Both are fields, because both live in your card agreement rather than in law. A percentage of a shrinking balance is a shrinking payment, which is the whole trap: the payment falls as fast as the debt, so the debt outlives you. The floor is what eventually ends it. Two published Federal Reserve examples pin the model down. Three thousand dollars at 13 % on a 2 % minimum runs sixteen years and $2,812 of interest; the same three thousand at 14.4 % on a 3 % minimum pays $4,745 in total. Both are reproduced here to the printed dollar. Nothing about those numbers depends on unusual assumptions — they are the ordinary arithmetic of a payment that keeps getting smaller.
Some payments never clear the balance
If the payment is at or below the month's interest, the balance rises instead of falling. $10,000 at 30 % costs $250 of interest a month and a 2 % minimum is $200. There is no payoff month, so the answer reads “never at this payment” instead of a made-up date.
The minimum shrinks as the balance does
A percentage minimum falls in step with the debt, so the payment that felt survivable in month one is smaller in month sixty and clears almost nothing. The dollar floor is the only thing that finally brings the balance down.
Where the defaults come from
The 3 % and $20 reproduce the Federal Reserve's own sample statement: $3,000 at 14.4 % with a $90.00 minimum, disclosed as about 11 years and $4,745 in total. This model returns 126 months and $4,745.37.
A fixed payment beats a percentage
Set the payment once and never lower it. On the sample statement, holding $103.12 instead of the minimum ends the balance in 36 months and saves roughly $1,033 — the same saving the statement box prints.
Commonly misread
Paying the minimum keeps the account in good standing, so it is fine.
In good standing, yes — and paying for a decade. Good standing and paying off are different questions, which is exactly why the disclosure box exists.
I entered my minimum payment in dollars in the payment field.
The payment field is your own fixed amount; the card's minimum is described by the two fields below it, a percentage and a floor. Leave the payment at 0 to follow the minimum.
Every card takes 2 % of the balance.
The percentage and the floor come from your card agreement, not from law. Regulation Z's own example uses 2 % or $20; the Federal Reserve's sample statement uses 3 %, and floors of $25 to $35 are common today.
The answer covers what I put on the card next month too.
It does not — like the statement disclosure, this assumes no further charges on the card. New purchases restart the arithmetic on a bigger balance.
Reference table
| Balance, APR, payment, min %, floor | Interest paid | Months |
|---|---|---|
| 3000, 13, 0, 2, 20 | $2,812 | 192 |
| 3000, 14.4, 0, 3, 20 | $1,745 | 126 |
| 3000, 14.4, 103.12, 3, 20 | $712 | 36 |
| 3000, 14.4, 150, 3, 20 | $451 | 24 |
| 3000, 14.4, 250, 3, 20 | $259 | 14 |
| 2000, 19.99, 0, 2, 25 | $5,196 | 249 |
| 2000, 19.99, 100, 2, 25 | $453 | 25 |
| 1200, 0, 100, 2, 20 | $0 | 12 |
Questions
How long will it take to pay off my credit card?
It depends on the balance, the APR and what you actually pay each month. On the minimum alone, $3,000 at 14.4 % takes 10 years and 6 months. A fixed $103.12 clears the same balance in 3 years.
How is the minimum payment calculated?
Usually a percentage of the balance, but never less than a fixed dollar amount. Regulation Z's own worked example uses 2 % of the balance or $20, whichever is greater; the Federal Reserve's sample statement uses 3 %. Both numbers are fields here because both sit in your card agreement.
Why does the answer sometimes read “never at this payment”?
Because the payment does not cover the interest, so the balance never falls. At 30 % APR a $10,000 balance costs $250 a month in interest while a 2 % minimum is only $200. There is no month in which that balance reaches zero, so the calculator says so rather than printing a date.
What is the box on my statement about paying off in three years?
12 CFR 1026.7(b)(11) requires US card statements to disclose how long the balance takes on minimum payments, and what monthly payment would clear it in 36 months instead. Setting your payment so the answer reads three years reproduces that second line.
Does this account for new purchases or fees?
No. Like the statement disclosure it assumes no further charges on the card and no annual or late fees. It is the payoff time for the balance you have today.
Sources and last check
Information, not financial advice.