Credit Card Payoff Calculator

You can work from the payment you can afford or from the date you want to finish, and the tool shows what each choice costs.

1. Enter your Current balance from the latest statement.
2. Enter the Interest rate APR (%) shown on that statement.
3. Under Plan, choose Pay a fixed amount each month or Be debt-free in a set number of months.
4. For the first plan, type the Monthly payment. For the second, type Months to pay off and the tool works out the payment needed.
5. Pick a Currency symbol, then read the time to debt-free, number of payments, total interest, total paid, payoff date and year-by-year table.

Each month the calculator divides the APR by 12 to get a monthly rate, adds that month's interest to the balance, then subtracts your payment. It repeats until the balance reaches zero. In the set-months plan it uses the standard instalment formula, P x r x (1 + r)^n / ((1 + r)^n - 1), to find the level payment that finishes on time.

Example: a balance of 5,000 at 19.99% APR, paying 150 a month. It takes 50 payments, or 4 years and 2 months, with 2,357.06 of interest, for a total of 7,357.06. That is interest worth 47.1% of the original balance, so the card ends up costing nearly half as much again as the purchases themselves. The first payment shows why it is slow: of the 150, about 83.29 goes on that month's interest and only the remaining 66.71 reduces the debt. Asking for the same balance to be cleared in 24 months instead needs 254.46 a month and costs 1,106.88 in interest.

Most people pick a payment that fits this month's budget and never test how sensitive the outcome is. Try a few payments in the calculator before settling on one, watching the number of payments and the total interest rather than the monthly figure alone. A rate cut or a balance transfer changes the picture too, and you can model it by changing the APR and comparing the two results side by side.

The results include a comparison with a payment 25% higher. Raising 150 to 187.50 in the example above clears the card in 36 months rather than 50, which is 14 months sooner, and cuts the interest by 690.35. A modest increase helps more than it looks, because every extra pound reduces the balance that next month's interest is charged on.

The calculator also warns you when a payment is too small. At 50 a month the first month's interest is already 83.29, so the balance would never fall.

The model assumes a fixed APR, no new purchases and no fees. Real cards may compound daily or per statement, change their rate and set minimum payments by their own rules, so your actual statement can differ slightly. Use the result for planning, and confirm figures with your card provider. The payoff date is counted forward from today's date, so it moves if you come back next month. Interest is also shown as a share of the original balance, which makes it easier to see how expensive a slow repayment is.

• Minimum-payment rules vary by country and issuer, often a small percentage of the balance plus interest, so this tool takes whatever monthly figure you type rather than applying a minimum.
• To check the monthly rate by hand, divide the APR by 12 with the percentage calculator.
• To compare a card with a structured loan, try the loan EMI calculator.
• To see why interest grows so quickly on unpaid balances, use the compound interest calculator.
• Once the card is cleared, the savings goal calculator can help you redirect the same monthly amount.

The result is an estimate for general information and is not financial advice.