How to use it
- Enter the balance and the APR from your statement.
- Choose a fixed monthly payment, or the number of months you want to be debt-free in, and read the payoff time, total interest and total paid.
- Under “If you paid only the minimum”, enter your card’s minimum-payment rule (it is in your card agreement) or pick a preset to see how long minimum payments alone would take and how much interest your plan saves.
How it calculates
The calculator follows the sample calculation that Regulation Z publishes for the repayment estimates on credit card statements (12 CFR 1026, Appendix M2, which applies the guidance in Appendix M1). Each month the balance grows by APR ÷ 12 and is rounded to the cent, then the payment comes off. A minimum payment is the chosen percentage of the balance (plus that month’s interest, if your rule adds it), but never less than the dollar floor; the last payment is whatever clears the balance. The payment for a set number of months is the standard annuity payment rounded to the cent, and the last of those months takes the few cents that rounding leaves over. Money is held in whole cents and the APR to three decimals, so nothing drifts.
Like the statement estimates, it assumes no new purchases, fees or rate changes. If your card charges interest on daily balances, a 31-day billing cycle at APR ÷ 365 a day charges about 1.9% more interest than one-twelfth of a year, and a 28-day cycle about 7.9% less, so real statements move around the estimate a little.
What minimum payments cost
For a $5,000 balance at 24% APR:
| How you pay | Time to pay off | Interest |
|---|---|---|
| $200 a month | 36 payments (the last is $0.57) | $2,000.57 |
| $196.16 a month (3-year plan) | 36 payments | $2,061.97 |
| Minimum only: 1% + interest, $40 floor (first payment $150.00) | 15 years 7 months | $8,219.04 |
| Minimum only: 2% of the balance or $20 | Never: the payment equals the interest | — |
The last row is the formula from Regulation Z’s own example. At 22.8% APR the same rule does pay the card off, but it takes 147 years 4 months and $78,181.98 of interest, because once the balance falls near $1,000 the $20 floor barely exceeds the month’s interest. Rules that add the month’s interest on top of a percentage always shrink the balance.
What we tested
On October 15, 2026 we transcribed Appendix M2’s sample program (one balance, one APR) into exact decimal arithmetic and ran 2,300 cases through it and through the page’s own functions: minimum-payment rules with and without interest and with different floors, fixed payments, N-month plans and the 36-month payment formula, at APRs from 0% to 36%. Every month count, payment and total matched (0 differences; 82 cases where the balance never falls were flagged by both). Two broken versions were caught: rounding interest down instead of to the nearest cent (1,031 of 2,300 mismatched) and taking the minimum percentage of the balance after interest (377 of 2,300 mismatched). In Chromium: $5,000 at 24% and $200 a month shows 3 years and $2,000.57 interest; the 1%-plus-interest minimum shows 15 years 7 months; the 36-month plan shows $196.16; the 2%-or-$20 rule is reported as never falling at 24% and 147 years 4 months at 22.8%; a $90 payment is refused; at 1280 and 390 px with 0 page errors and no sideways scrolling.
Sources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z, Appendix M2: Sample Calculations of Repayment Disclosures (current version, read October 15, 2026), and Appendix M1: Repayment Disclosures.
- Chase, How to calculate your minimum credit card payment (the $40 or 1% plus interest and late fees formula).
Frequently Asked Questions
Built by Derek Giordano · Part of Ultimate Design Tools