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Credit card minimum repayment calculator
How long will it take to clear your credit card balance making the minimum payments?
If you only make the minimum required payments on your credit card bill, you could stay in debt for years. Instead, see whether you could clear your balance more quickly (and pay less in interest overall) by paying a fixed amount each month.
You could also consider a 0% balance transfer credit card to pay off your credit card debt even more quickly and potentially save thousands.
Compare balance transfer credit cards
How does our calculator work?
1. Enter your current credit card balance and the annual interest rate you are charged.
2. Enter a set amount you think you could aim to pay each month e.g. £50.
3. Enter your card’s minimum repayment percentage (check with your provider but this is usually between 1% and 3%).
4. Enter your card’s minimum repayment amount. This is what you will pay this if it is higher than the percentage of your outstanding balance.
What does the result mean?
Our calculator shows how much long it would take you to become debt free by paying a fixed amount and how much this would cost you in interest payments. It then compares this to how long it would take you to become debt free if you were to just make the minimum required monthly repayments, and how much this would cost you in interest overall!
Typically, you’ll see that you can clear your balance in a far shorter timeframe by paying a fixed amount. Play around with the fixed amount and see the difference it could make – the more you can commit to, the quicker you will clear your debt and the less interest you will pay!
What is a credit card minimum repayment
A minimum repayment is the lowest payment you are required to make on your credit card balance by the due date. It’s typically charged at either a percentage of the total balance or a set fee, whichever is higher. This is usually in the region of 1% to 3% of the balance or between £5 and £25. If you don’t pay on time, you will likely be charged a fee and it can damage your credit report.
Why should you consider a fixed payment instead?
The more you repay each month, the quicker you will clear your balance and the less you will pay in interest overall. If you fall into the habit of paying just the minimum payment, you’ll pay less as time goes on as it’s charged as a percentage of the remaining balance. Therefore, it will take you longer to clear!
Example: How long would it take to pay off credit card debt of £1,316?
Based on an interest rate of 26.2%, if you paid £50 a month instead of the minimum amount (at 2.5%, your first payment would be £33) on a balance of £1,316, you could be debt-free in just over 3 years versus more than 10 years. It would also save you £1,681 in interest. To slash your interest payments even further, you could take advantage of a 0% balance transfer deal which gives you a fixed interest-free period, which could be up to 30 months.
* This is a fictional, but realistic, example.
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