How long it takes to pay off a credit card on minimum payments, with a calculator

If you only pay the minimum on a credit card, most of each payment goes on interest, and the minimum gets smaller as the balance does. On a typical UK card, £3,000 would take over 28 years to clear that way, and you’d pay more in interest than you borrowed.

Paying the same amount every month instead clears it in under 5 years. The calculator further down shows both for your own card.

£3,000 on minimum payments

Say you owe £3,000 on a card charging 24.9% APR. You don’t spend any more on it, and you pay the minimum every month. On most UK cards the minimum is that month’s interest plus 1% of the balance, and never less than £5.

• It takes 28 years and 5 months to clear.
• You pay £5,395 in interest, so £8,395 in total.

That’s on paper. It assumes no new spending, fees, missed payments or rate changes for 28 years, and in practice the UK’s persistent debt rules mean your card company would step in long before then.

24.9% is a typical rate. The Bank of England’s average quoted credit card rate was 24.71% in August 2026, and 24.9% is the rate the longest 0% balance transfer cards go back to when their deals end. Bank Rate has come down from 4.25% in July 2025 to 3.75%, but card rates haven’t followed.

A UK APR already includes the effect of interest being added every month. So 24.9% a year is about 1.87% a month, not 24.9 divided by 12, which would be 2.075%. On £3,000, the first month’s interest is £56.10.

The rate changes the interest far more than the time. The time is mostly set by the balance falling 1% a month and the £5 payments at the end:

• At 21.45%, the Bank of England’s effective rate on balances that were charged interest in July 2026: 27 years 11 months, £4,697 interest.
• At 24.9%: 28 years 5 months, £5,395.
• At 28.9%: 28 years 11 months, £6,185.
• At 36%, Moneyfacts’ average purchase rate in June 2026, which is pushed up by cards with fees and cards for people rebuilding their credit: 29 years 8 months, £7,536.

How UK card companies set the minimum

The FCA sets the lowest a minimum payment can be. For card agreements made since 1 April 2011, it has to cover at least that month’s interest, fees and charges, plus 1% of the balance. The rule is CONC 6.7.5R in the FCA Handbook.

Card companies add rules of their own, usually a £5 lowest payment and sometimes a percentage of the balance, and you pay whichever works out highest. The wording on their websites isn’t always clear, so their own worked examples are the best guide:

• Lloyds Bank: on £3,000 at 24% APR, the minimum starts at £84. Paying only the minimum takes 28 years 3 months and costs £5,214 in interest. Paying a fixed £84 a month takes 4 years 10 months and costs £1,866. Lloyds shows the example on its minimum payments page.
• Barclaycard: on £3,000 at 28.9%, the first minimum is about £94. Minimum payments take 28 years 4 months and £6,054 of interest. A fixed £94 a month takes 4 years 7 months and £2,096. Barclaycard explains minimum payments here.
• NatWest: on £3,000 at 18.9%, the first month’s interest is £43 and the minimum £73. NatWest’s example.
• HSBC: on its Classic card at 29.9%, the minimum is the highest of the interest and any default charges plus 1% of the balance, 2.5% of the balance, or £5. HSBC says £1,000 paid off at the minimum takes about 20 years. HSBC’s summary box.

Barclaycard lowered its minimum on 22 July 2024. It used to be the highest of 3.75% of the balance, 2.5% plus interest, or £5. It’s now the highest of 1%, 1% plus interest, or £5. MoneySavingExpert worked out that for £1,000 at 24.9%, the change stretched minimum payments from 9 years 8 months and £699 of interest to 19 years 3 months and £1,655. MSE’s report on the change.

American Express is the odd one out in the UK. Its minimum is the higher of £25 or the interest and fees plus 2% of the balance, so the £3,000 example would clear in 9 years 4 months, with £2,446 of interest.

Every UK statement has to carry the same warning: “If you make only the minimum payment each month, it will take you longer and cost you more to clear your balance.” It’s set out in the Consumer Credit regulations. Unlike in the US, a UK statement doesn’t have to tell you how long your own balance would take.

Why the minimum keeps shrinking

On the £3,000 example, the first bill is £86.10. £56.10 of it is interest, so only £30 comes off what you owe. That’s 65p of every £1 going on interest.

After a year of minimum payments you’ve paid £978.25, of which £637.41 was interest, and you still owe £2,659.16.

Each minimum is the interest plus 1% of the balance, so the balance only falls by 1% a month. That halves it about every 5 years 9 months, and the minimum falls with it:

• After 1 year you owe £2,659, and that month’s minimum is £77.09.
• After 5 years, £1,641, with a minimum of £47.59.
• After 10 years, £898, with a minimum of £26.04.
• After 20 years, £269, with a minimum of £7.80.

The minimum hits the £5 floor after 23 years 8 months, with £172.79 still to pay. The last 4 years 9 months are £5 payments.

Every month you pay a bit less, so every month less comes off the balance, and what’s left keeps being charged interest. It’s compound interest working against you.

Pay a fixed amount instead

Keep paying the first bill every month, even when the minimum drops. On the £3,000 example that’s about £86:

• £86 a month clears it in 4 years 10 months, with £1,904 of interest. That’s £3,491 less interest than minimum payments, and 23 years 7 months sooner.
• £100 a month clears it in 3 years 9 months, with £1,444 of interest.
• £115.26 a month clears it in 3 years, with about £1,150 of interest.
• £150 a month clears it in 2 years 2 months, with £793 of interest.

If you’re not adding to the balance, the minimum only goes down. So a fixed payment of at least your first minimum will always cover it.

How to switch the Direct Debit

Most people who pay the minimum do it by Direct Debit, and that’s the easiest thing to change. Card companies usually let you choose a Direct Debit for the minimum, the full balance or a fixed amount. Pick the fixed amount, in the card’s app, online or by phone.

In research published in July 2018, the FCA found that showing people how long their own balance would take to clear had no effect on what they paid. The people who did start paying more had mostly switched their Direct Debit from the minimum to a fixed amount. Over 30% of people with an automatic minimum payment paid only the minimum all year.

Credit card repayment calculator

Enter your balance, your card’s APR and what you could pay each month. The calculator compares minimum payments with your fixed payment, and shows the balance year by year. It starts with the £3,000 example.

The persistent debt rules

Since 1 March 2018, UK card companies have had to act when someone’s in persistent debt. That’s when, over 18 months, you’ve paid more in interest, fees and charges than you’ve paid off the balance. The FCA announced the rules in February 2018.

Minimum payments on the £3,000 example count. Over the first 18 months you’d pay £928 in interest and only £496 off the balance. At interest plus 1%, the same is true of any card charging more than about 12.7% APR.

Here’s what the card company has to do:

• At 18 months, write to you, with contact details for free debt advice.
• At 27 months, if you’re still in persistent debt, write to you again.
• At 36 months, offer you ways to clear the balance in a reasonable time. The FCA says that’s usually between 3 and 4 years. On the £3,000 example, 3 years is about £115 a month and 4 years about £95.
• If you can’t afford that, it has to help, for example by reducing, waiving or cancelling interest and charges.
• If you don’t respond, it can suspend or cancel your card.

NatWest sets out the 18, 27 and 36 month steps, and the rules themselves are in CONC 6.7.

So the 28 years only exist on paper. In February 2018, when it announced the rules, the FCA said 4 million accounts were in persistent debt, paying about £2.50 in interest and charges for every £1 they paid off.

0% balance transfers

A balance transfer card moves your debt to a new card that charges no interest for a set time, usually for a one-off fee.

As of September 2026, the longest deals ran for about 36 months, with fees of about 3.1% to 3.5%, and they all went back to 24.9% at the end. MoneySavingExpert’s list on 23 September 2026 included:

• HSBC: 36 months, 3.09% fee
• Virgin Money: 36 months, 3.1% fee
• NatWest: up to 36 months, 3.1% fee
• Barclaycard: up to 36 months, 3.15% fee
• MBNA: up to 36 months, 3.29% fee
• Tesco Bank: 36 months, 3.45% fee
• TSB: up to 38 months, 3.49% fee

The average deal is shorter. In June 2026, Moneyfacts put it at 605 days, about 20 months, with a 2.48% fee. Deals change every week, so check what’s on offer when you apply.

What it costs

On £3,000, a 3.09% fee is £92.70, so you’d owe £3,092.70. Spread over 36 months, that’s £85.91 a month, so £86 a month clears it before the deal ends. The whole cost is the £92.70 fee. Paying the same £86 a month on a 24.9% card costs £1,904 in interest.

On the average deal, £3,000 plus a 2.48% fee is £3,074.40. That needs about £162 a month to clear it in 19 months.

Before you apply

• Use an eligibility checker first. Most card companies and comparison sites have one. It’s a soft search, so it won’t affect your credit score.
• “Up to 36 months” means some people are offered a shorter deal.
• Don’t miss a payment. Card companies can take the 0% rate away if you do, so set up a Direct Debit.
• Don’t spend on the card. New spending may not get the 0% rate, and it’s more to clear before the deal ends.

Watch the minimum, too. With no interest to add, the minimum on a 0% card can be as little as 1% of the balance. If you only pay 1% a month, you’ll still owe £2,153.76 when the 36 months end, and it’ll be charged at 24.9% from then on.

Minimum payments in the US

In the US, the average rate on credit card accounts that were charged interest was 22.15%, in the Federal Reserve’s September 2026 release (the figures are for May 2026). Across all accounts it was 20.94%. The Fed’s G.19 release.

A US APR doesn’t include compounding. Card companies charge a daily rate of the APR divided by 365, so 22.15% works out at about 1.86% a month. That’s almost the same monthly cost as 24.9% in the UK. On $3,000, the first bill is $85.87, and $55.87 of it is interest.

The minimum works the same way, the interest plus 1% of the balance (plus any late fee), but with a higher floor. It’s $35 at Chase and Bank of America, and $41 at Citi, according to their card agreements. Capital One’s is widely reported as $25. With a higher floor, the payments never shrink as far as they do in the UK, so the balance clears much sooner:

• With a $35 floor, $3,000 takes 12 years 3 months to clear, with $4,082 of interest.
• With a $25 floor, 15 years, with $4,512 of interest.
• With a $41 floor, 10 years 11 months, with $3,824 of interest.

So it’s about 10 to 15 years, depending on the bank, and around $4,000 of interest.

The Minimum Payment Warning

Since the CARD Act came into force on 22 February 2010, US statements have had to show a Minimum Payment Warning. It says how long paying only the minimum would take and what you’d pay in total, and gives the monthly payment that clears the balance in 3 years, with its total and how much you’d save. It also gives a phone number for credit counselling. The 3-year lines are left out if the minimum would clear the balance within 3 years anyway. The CFPB publishes the rule.

For $3,000 at 22.15%, the box would say about 12 years and $7,082 in total on the minimum. Paying $115 a month would clear it in 3 years for $4,144, a saving of $2,938.

A fixed payment works the same way it does in the UK. $85.87 a month clears it in 4 years 9 months, with $1,894 of interest. $100 a month takes 3 years 9 months ($1,434 interest), and $150 a month takes 2 years 2 months ($788).

The US has no equivalent of the UK’s persistent debt rules, and its balance transfer deals are shorter and dearer. Bankrate’s list on 8 September 2026 showed deals of 21 months, with fees of 3% to 5%. On $3,000 with a 5% fee, you’d owe $3,150, which needs $150 a month to clear in 21 months.

What to do first

1. Find your minimum payment and your APR on your latest statement or in your card’s app.
2. Set a fixed monthly payment of at least your first minimum, or more if you can afford it, and change your Direct Debit to that amount.
3. Stop spending on the card while you clear it.
4. If a balance transfer makes sense, check your eligibility first with a soft search. To work out the monthly payment, add the fee to the balance and divide by the number of 0% months.
5. If you’re struggling to make the payments, get free debt advice before you miss any.

Free debt help

In the UK, these services give free, confidential debt advice:

• StepChange, the debt charity, online or by phone.
• National Debtline, online or by phone.
• MoneyHelper, the government-backed money guidance service, which can also point you to free debt advice near you.

In the US, the Minimum Payment Warning on your statement includes a number for credit counselling, and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling lists non-profit credit counsellors.

Assumptions

This guide explains how credit card minimum payments work. It isn’t financial advice and doesn’t take your circumstances into account.

All the figures here, and the calculator, use the same rules. UK interest is charged monthly at the rate that compounds to the APR over a year, so 1.87% a month at 24.9%. US interest uses a daily rate of the APR divided by 365. Each month’s interest is added before the payment, the minimum is the interest plus 1% of the balance before interest, with a £5 or $35 floor, and everything’s rounded to the penny or cent. They assume no new spending, fees, missed payments or rate changes. The same method gives exactly the figures in Lloyds’ own example. Barclaycard’s example works out the 1% after that month’s interest is added, which is why its minimum-only figures come out a few months shorter than the calculator’s.

Your card’s rules may be different, so your statement is the best guide to your own minimum. Rates and balance transfer deals are as of September 2026.