Credit Card Repayment Calculator
Estimate repayment time and total interest from your balance, APR and monthly payment. Compare fixed payments with minimum payments using your own card terms.
How repayment estimates work
The biggest trap is the minimum payment. It falls as your balance falls, so repayment drags on for years. A £3,000 balance at 24.9% APR, paying the standard minimum of the month's interest plus 1% of the balance, takes about 15 years 5 months to clear and costs roughly £5,090 in interest — more than the original debt. At the market-average 35.9% APR the same balance takes nearly 17 years and costs about £7,650.
Switching to a fixed monthly payment changes the picture completely. Paying £100 a month on that £3,000 balance at 24.9% clears it in 4 years with about £1,740 in interest — around £3,350 less than the minimum-payment route. Push the payment to £200 and you're done in 1 year 7 months for roughly £630 in interest.
Enter your current balance, APR, and payment amount below to see exactly when you'll be debt-free, how much interest you'll pay, and how different payment levels compare.
Credit Card Repayment Calculator
The average UK credit card purchase APR was 35.9% in May 2026 (Moneyfacts). Mainstream cards often start nearer 24.9%.
What your repayment plan really costs
Paying only the minimum — the month's interest plus 1% of the balance — on a card at the market-average 35.9% APR stretches a £3,000 balance into roughly 17 years and about £7,650 of interest. Fixing your payment at £150 a month instead clears the same balance in 2 years 7 months for around £1,640. Raising the payment is the highest-return move most households can make.
If your APR is anywhere near the market average, look hard at a 0% balance transfer card — the longest deal on the market runs 38 months with a 3.49% transfer fee — or consolidating into a fixed-rate personal loan. Either route locks in a clear payoff date and stops interest piling up while you make progress.
How Credit Card Repayment Works
Credit card interest compounds daily on your outstanding balance. Unlike a fixed-term loan, there's no set end date — you choose how much to pay each month (above the minimum), and that determines how long you'll be in debt. This flexibility is what makes credit cards both useful and potentially expensive.
The key numbers to understand are your APR (annual interest rate), your outstanding balance, and your monthly payment. A higher payment means a faster payoff and significantly less interest. The relationship isn't linear — doubling your payment typically cuts your interest cost by far more than half.
The Minimum Payment Trap
Credit card providers must show on your statement what making only the minimum payment costs you. The minimum is deliberately low: on cards opened since April 2011 it has to cover at least the month's interest, fees and charges plus 1% of the balance, so the payment shrinks as the balance falls and repayment stretches out for years.
On a £3,000 balance that means about 15 years 5 months and roughly £5,090 of interest at 24.9% APR, or close to 17 years and about £7,650 at the market-average 35.9% APR (Moneyfacts, May 2026). In both cases the interest costs more than the original debt.
Under the FCA's persistent debt rules, if you pay more in interest, fees and charges than you repay in principal over 18 months your provider must contact you and prompt you to pay more; after 36 months of the same pattern it has to offer you a way to clear the balance, usually within three to four years. Those rules limit how long you can drift, but they do not undo the interest already paid — increasing your payment yourself is far cheaper.
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