Credit Card Payoff
Find out how long it will take to pay off your UK credit card and how much interest you'll pay in total. Compare minimum payments against a fixed monthly amount — the difference in years and interest is usually far larger than expected.
How long and how much?
Balance remaining over time Your payment Min payments
Minimum payments modelled as 2% of outstanding balance or £25, whichever is higher — typical for UK credit cards. The minimum falls each month as the balance falls.
What to bear in mind
This calculator models a single card with a fixed APR. In practice, your APR may change, your balance may increase if you keep spending, and payment holidays would extend the payoff period. The minimum payment model (2% or £25) is representative but your card's terms may differ — check your agreement. If your balance is significant, a 0% balance transfer card or personal loan at a lower rate may save you more than simply paying more each month.
Balance transfer cards worth considering
Disclosure: links below are affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no cost to you. We only list providers we'd genuinely consider.
Consistently offers some of the longest 0% balance transfer periods available in the UK. A small one-off transfer fee applies, but you pay zero interest during the promotional period.
No transfer feeOffers 0% balance transfer deals, sometimes with no transfer fee. Check the promotional period length — and set a reminder to clear the balance before it ends.
Compare all cardsComparison tool for balance transfer cards across the full market. Filter by 0% period length, transfer fee and eligibility. Useful before applying to a single provider.
If your balance is large or you have multiple cards, a personal loan at a fixed lower rate may beat any balance transfer offer. Use our loan comparison calculator.
Credit card minimum payments: the most expensive habit in personal finance
Credit card minimum payments are intentionally set low. They're designed to maximise the interest you pay over time — not to help you clear the debt. Paying only the minimum on a typical UK card can mean a £2,000 balance takes over 20 years to clear and costs you more in interest than you originally borrowed.
How minimum payments work
Most UK credit cards calculate the minimum payment as the higher of: a fixed floor amount (usually £25) or a percentage of the outstanding balance (typically 1–3%). As you pay down the balance, the minimum falls — which sounds good, but means you're making smaller and smaller dents in the principal each month. In the early years, almost all your payment goes towards interest.
The maths behind the trap
At 22.9% APR on a £2,000 balance, the monthly interest charge is around £38. A 2% minimum payment is £40 — just £2 more than the interest. That £2 is all that actually reduces your debt. At that rate it takes decades to clear, not years. Doubling your payment to £80/month cuts the payoff time to about two and a half years and saves over £700 in interest.
Balance transfers: the most powerful tool
If you have good credit, a 0% balance transfer card is often the single most effective way to clear credit card debt. You move your balance to a new card charging 0% interest for a promotional period (typically 12–30 months). During that window, every pound you pay reduces the principal. A one-off transfer fee of 2–3% usually applies, but this is far less than the interest you'd pay otherwise. The critical rule: clear the balance before the 0% period ends, or you'll revert to a high purchase rate.
Fixed payments beat minimum every time
Even if a balance transfer isn't available to you, committing to a fixed monthly payment — rather than letting the minimum shrink as your balance falls — dramatically accelerates payoff. If you paid the minimum in month 1 and kept paying exactly that amount every subsequent month (instead of letting it fall), you'd clear the debt years sooner. The calculator above lets you model exactly this.
When a personal loan makes sense
For larger balances or multiple cards, a personal loan at a lower fixed APR (often 6–15% for good-credit borrowers, versus 20–30% on credit cards) can consolidate everything into a single predictable monthly payment at a lower rate. This only makes sense if you don't accumulate new card debt afterwards — consolidating and then re-spending on the cleared cards is a common trap that leaves you worse off.
One practical rule
Whatever you can afford to pay each month — pay it as a fixed amount, not as whatever the minimum statement says. Set up a standing order for the fixed amount on payday, then ignore the minimum on your statement. This one habit is worth more than almost any other financial optimisation for someone carrying card debt.
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