{
  "id": "minimum-payment",
  "version": "d34af9dee3bc",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "Minimum Payment Calculator",
  "question": "When do minimum payments end?",
  "summary": "Shows how long a credit card balance takes to pay off with only the minimum payment, the total interest, the first minimum, and the fixed payment that clears it in 36 months.",
  "category": "finance",
  "subcategory": "loans",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/minimum-payment-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/minimum-payment-calculator.md",
  "kind": "schedule",
  "method": "Each month: interest = balance × APR ÷ 12; minimum = max(floor, % × balance + interest) or max(floor, % × balance), at most balance + interest; balance = balance + interest − minimum, until 0. 36-month payment = B × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−36).",
  "assumptions": [
    "You make no new purchases and pay exactly the minimum on time each month. No fees, and the APR does not change.",
    "Interest is the monthly rate APR ÷ 12 on the balance, with months of equal length; card issuers use the daily balance, so real interest differs a little.",
    "The last payment is whatever is left. Values are not rounded to the cent between months."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "balance": {
        "title": "Card balance",
        "description": "What you owe on the card now.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "exclusiveMinimum": 0,
        "maximum": 10000000
      },
      "apr": {
        "title": "APR",
        "description": "The card’s annual percentage rate on the balance.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100
      },
      "rule": {
        "title": "Minimum payment is",
        "description": "How your card works out the minimum: a percent of the balance plus the month’s interest, or a percent of the balance alone.",
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "interest",
          "percent"
        ]
      },
      "pct": {
        "title": "Percent of the balance",
        "description": "The percent of the balance in the minimum, from your card agreement, such as 1% or 2%.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100
      },
      "floor": {
        "title": "Lowest minimum",
        "description": "The dollar amount the minimum never goes below, from your card agreement, such as $25 or $35.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 100000
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "months": {
      "label": "Months to pay it off",
      "description": "How many minimum payments clear the balance, with no new charges.",
      "format": "integer"
    },
    "time": {
      "label": "Time to pay it off",
      "description": "The months as years and months.",
      "format": "duration"
    },
    "principal": {
      "label": "Balance paid off",
      "description": "The card balance the minimum payments clear.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "interest": {
      "label": "Total interest",
      "description": "All the interest paid until the balance is 0.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "paid": {
      "label": "Total paid",
      "description": "The balance plus all the interest.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "first": {
      "label": "First minimum payment",
      "description": "The minimum payment due in the first month.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "payment36": {
      "label": "Payment to pay it off in 3 years",
      "description": "The fixed monthly payment that clears the balance in 36 months.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "interest36": {
      "label": "Interest paying it off in 3 years",
      "description": "The interest paid with that fixed payment.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "saved": {
      "label": "Interest saved in 3 years",
      "description": "Total interest paying the minimum − the interest paying it off in 36 months; shown when it is more than $0.",
      "format": "money"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "balance": 5000,
      "apr": 22,
      "rule": "interest",
      "pct": 1,
      "floor": 25
    },
    "outputs": {
      "months": 230,
      "time": {
        "years": 19,
        "months": 2
      },
      "principal": 5000,
      "interest": 8099.772679186713,
      "paid": 13099.772679186714,
      "first": 141.66666666666669,
      "payment36": 190.95226589054747,
      "interest36": 1874.281572059709,
      "saved": 6225.4911071270035
    },
    "text": "Paying only the minimum on $5,000.00 at 22% APR takes 230 months and costs $8,099.77 in interest."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "balance": 1000,
        "apr": 12,
        "rule": "interest",
        "pct": 1,
        "floor": 25
      },
      "expect": {
        "first": 25,
        "months": 52,
        "interest": 283.4666178055841,
        "payment36": 33.21430981285116,
        "saved": 87.75146454294219
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: month 1 interest 1,000 × 1% = 10, minimum max(25, 10 + 10) = 25; Python 3 month-by-month loop in the progress log; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z, Appendix M1 to Part 1026, Repayment Disclosures (the minimum payment repayment estimate assumes only minimum payments, months of equal length, and a final payment that pays the account in full; the 36-month estimate). https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/m1/"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "balance": 5000,
        "apr": 22,
        "rule": "interest",
        "pct": 1,
        "floor": 25
      },
      "expect": {
        "first": 141.66666666666669,
        "months": 230,
        "interest": 8099.772679186717,
        "payment36": 190.95226589054764
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: 5,000 × 22% ÷ 12 = 91.67 interest; 1% of 5,000 = 50; minimum 141.67; Python 3 month-by-month loop in the progress log; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, How does my credit card company calculate the amount of interest I owe? https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-does-my-credit-card-company-calculate-the-amount-of-interest-i-owe-en-51/"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "balance": 300,
        "apr": 0,
        "rule": "percent",
        "pct": 2,
        "floor": 25
      },
      "expect": {
        "months": 12,
        "interest": 0,
        "first": 25,
        "paid": 300
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: no interest, the $25 floor is above 2% of $300, so 300 ÷ 25 = 12 months; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z, Appendix M1 to Part 1026, Repayment Disclosures (the minimum payment repayment estimate assumes only minimum payments, months of equal length, and a final payment that pays the account in full; the 36-month estimate). https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/m1/"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation Z, Appendix M1 to Part 1026, Repayment Disclosures (the minimum payment estimate assumes only minimum payments; months may be treated as equal; the final payment pays the account in full; the 36-month estimate). https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/m1/ (retrieved 2026-10-02)",
    "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, How does my credit card company calculate the amount of interest I owe? https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/how-does-my-credit-card-company-calculate-the-amount-of-interest-i-owe-en-51/ (retrieved 2026-10-02)"
  ],
  "related": [
    "credit-card-payoff",
    "credit-card-interest",
    "debt-payoff"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}