Credit Card Minimum Payment Calculator

Use the credit card minimum payment calculator to find out the lowest amount to pay in a month to fulfill the minimum requirements and how long it would take to repay your credit card balance with these minimum payments.

Besides that, you can also compare results between a specific monthly fixed payment and the minimum monthly payment. For example, you can check how much interest and time you can save if you make payments above the required minimum.

In the following, we explain what the credit card minimum payment calculator formula is and how the credit card minimum payment calculator works so you can estimate how much will my minimum credit card payment be.

A credit card minimum payment is the minimum you should pay on your credit card each month to avoid any penalties or late fees and maintain creditworthiness. Therefore, it is crucial to transfer this amount monthly by keeping to the deadlines even when you are short of money. You may set up automatic payments to meet this requirement and prevent yourself from incurring a late fee.

To help you with this, you can employ our credit card minimum payment calculator, which helps you estimate the minimum required amount and predict the charged interest. But keep in mind that turning to minimum payments implies an extended repayment term and high-interest charges. Thus, we recommend paying above the minimum and considering minimum payment only as a last resort.

According to the Credit CARD Act of 2009, card issuers are legally required to include a minimum payment warning section on each billing statement. It gives you information about the total time to pay off your balance and the total amount you will end up paying (including interest) if you only pay the minimum.

Besides setting a definite minimum payment, there are two prevailing techniques applied by credit card issuers to calculate monthly minimum payments.

Method 1: Flat percentage

In this case, the credit card issuer computes the minimum payment as a percentage of your total statement balance, usually around one to three percent. For example, if the flat percentage is 1 percent, and your statement balance is 1,000 dollars, the minimum payment is 10 dollars (1,000 × 0.01 = 10).

Method 2: Percentage plus interest

Some credit card issuers set your minimum payment by computing the percentage of your statement balance and adding the interest and fees charged during the statement period. Considering the previous example with a 20 dollar monthly interest charge and a 30 dollar late fee, you can compute the minimum payment in the following way:

Minimum payment = Statement balance × Minimum percentage + Interest charges + Fees

Minimum payment = 1,000 × 0.01 + 20 + 30

Minimum payment = 60 dollars

Note that the percentage method applies exclusively when the resulting amount is larger than the defined minimum payment. For example, if you have a small statement balance, say 100 dollars, the minimum payment with a flat percentage method (i.e., 1 percent) would result in merely 1 dollar. If the defined minimum payment is 20 dollars, the required minimum would be this amount, and the percentage method would be set aside.

In the following, you can read how to employ the credit card minimum payment formula:

Specification

• Statement balance: For the first step, you need to set the statement balance, which is the base of the interest calculation. Note that credit card issuers apply the interest rate on your average daily balance during the current billing cycle to compute the accrued interest. After they add up previous balances, the transactions you made during the current billing cycle, and the related accrued interest and fees, they obtain the total statement balance.

• Due date: The closest day by which you need to pay your next monthly credit card payment.

• APR: The annual percentage rate provided by the credit card issuer. If multiple APRs apply to your balance, you may check the real APR with our credit card APR calculator.

• Interest capitalization frequency (in advanced mode): Most credit card issuers apply daily capitalization (360 or 365 times per year), which means that interest is calculated and added to your balance on each day. To get more insight into the mechanism behind this process, you may check out our compounding interest calculator.

Payment setting

• Minimum payment: The amount required to pay monthly to avoid late fees or charges. It applies only when the resulting payment is higher than the minimum payment computed by the minimum percentage.

• Minimum percentage: The percentage of the statement balance you need to pay to avoid late fees. Note that it applies only when the resulting payment is higher than the minimum payment amount mentioned above.

• Minimum percentage calculation method: credit card issuers may use flat percentage or percentage + interest to compute your monthly minimum payment. In the former case, the minimum payment is always the statement balance at the due date, but in the latter case, the interest amount is added.

• Monthly fixed payment: Here, you can set the actual or hypothetical payment amount that you would like to compare with the case of paying only the required monthly minimum. Optionally, you can leave it to zero to avoid comparison and to analyze the monthly payments exclusively.

Results

In the result section, you can read the main details of payments with minimum payments and fixed payments. You can also learn how much interest you can save if you pay a higher fixed amount than the monthly minimum.

Balances

In the dynamic chart, you can follow the balances of both scenarios - paying the required minimum and making a fixed payment.

Payment schedule

You can check in the table of payment schedules the opening and closing balances at a given due date with the exact amount of monthly payments and the allocation between principal and interest.

The results of the credit card minimum payment calculator should be considered as a model for financial approximation. All payment figures, balances, and interest figures are estimates based on the data you provided in the specifications that are, despite our best efforts, not exhaustive.

Thus, and mostly because of the multiple interest rates applied on fluctuating daily balances, the calculator is created for instructional purposes only. Yet, if you experience a relevant drawback or encounter any inaccuracy, we are always pleased to receive useful feedback and advice.