---
title: "Credit Card Payoff Calculator | Honest Interest"
description: "How long will your card take to pay off? Enter balance, APR and a fixed payment, or a target month, for the time, total interest and a monthly schedule."
url: https://honestinterest.bond/credit-card-payoff-calculator/
---

Calculator 03 · Paying it down

# Credit card payoff calculator

Two questions about one balance: how long will it take at the payment I can manage, and what do I need to pay to be clear by a certain month?

**Educational use only — not financial advice.** Assumes no new purchases, fees or rate changes and on-time payments. Your statement is the authority on what you owe.

## How the payoff is worked out

Each month the card charges interest on what you owe at the APR divided by 12. Your payment covers that interest first and the rest reduces the balance. With $5,000 at 20% APR the first month's interest is $83.33, so a $200 payment takes only $116.67 off the debt. As the balance falls, more of each payment goes to the debt itself, and the final payment is smaller than the rest.

The other mode turns the question round. It uses the loan payment formula and rounds up to the cent, so the balance is clear on time:

payment = B × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n)

Here B is the balance, r the monthly rate and n the number of months. $5,000 at 20% over 24 months needs $254.48 a month.

Real statements use a daily rate on your average daily balance, which can move the result by a few dollars. Regulation Z lets card issuers make the same simplifying assumptions (a monthly rate, no new charges) for the payoff estimates printed on statements.

## Sources

- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z, [Appendix M1 to Part 1026 — Repayment Disclosures](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/m1/): the assumptions card issuers may use for statement payoff estimates, including a monthly periodic rate and no new transactions.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, [What is a grace period for a credit card?](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-a-grace-period-for-a-credit-card-en-47/): why a carried balance is charged interest.

## Questions

**Why does a small increase in the payment save so much?**

Every extra dollar goes straight to the balance, and a lower balance means less interest next month and every month after. With $5,000 at 20% APR, paying $250 instead of $200 a month clears the card 8 months sooner and saves $389.08 of interest.

**What if my payment is less than the interest?**

Then the balance never falls, and the calculator says so. It shows the first month's interest: any payment above that figure starts to reduce the debt.

**Can I save or print the schedule?**

Yes. Download CSV saves every month as a spreadsheet file, and Print schedule prints the figures and the table without the rest of the page. Nothing is stored on the site.