What happens if you only pay the minimum?

Put in a balance and your card's APR. You'll see how long the minimum payment keeps you paying, what it costs in interest, and how much a fixed payment of your own choosing changes that. The minimum is designed to shrink as you go, which is the trap.

Paying only the minimum on $5,000 at 19.9%, you'd be paying for 39 years and 9 months and hand over $18,021 in interest, 3.6 times what you borrowed.

Pick your own fixed payment instead$150

the minimum4x the minimum

Total interest, minimum vs. your payment

How this is worked out

The minimum is recalculated every month from what is left, so as the balance falls the payment falls with it and the debt stretches out. Your own payment stays fixed until the balance is gone. We add interest monthly at the APR you give and assume no new purchases, fees or rate changes, so a real card would be a little worse. Nothing you type leaves this page.

Why it works this way

The minimum is set for the bank, not for you.

It shrinks as you goA minimum that is 2% of the balance gets smaller every month, so you never get ahead of the interest by much. That is why the payoff stretches to decades instead of years.

Fixing the payment breaks itPaying the same dollar amount every month, even just the first month's minimum, means more of each payment reaches the balance as the interest falls. The slider above shows how much that alone changes.

Your statement shows itBy law, US card statements include a box showing how long the minimum would take and what a three-year payoff costs per month. Look for it. It is the same math as this page.