The minimum payment on a credit card is the lowest amount of money the cardholder can pay each billing cycle to keep the account's status “current” rather than “late.” A credit card minimum payment is often $20 to $35 or 1% to 3% of the card balance, whichever is greater.
But most big lenders base minimum payments either on a small percentage of your credit card balance, or a flat minimum payment fee that's typically around $20 to $40. In general, you can expect to pay whichever amount is bigger: 1% to 3% of your credit card balance or the lender's minimum payment amount.
On some cards, issuers use a flat percentage — typically 2% — of your statement balance to determine your minimum. If your balance (including interest and fees) were $10,000, for example, you'd owe a minimum of $200.
Credit cards with a flat percentage minimum payment usually require 2% to 4% of your balance each month. Taking that into account, if your total balance for a credit card is $3,000 and the flat percentage is 2%, your minimum monthly payment would be $60.
A minimum payment of 3% a month on $15,000 worth of debt means 227 months (almost 19 years) of payments, starting at $450 a month. By the time you've paid off the $15,000, you'll also have paid almost as much in interest ($12,978 if you're paying the average interest rate of 14.96%) as you did in principal.
The minimum payment on a $2,000 credit card balance is at least $20, plus any fees, interest, and past-due amounts, if applicable.
Method 1: Percent of the Balance + Finance Charge
1 So, for example, 1% of your balance plus the interest that has accrued. Let's say your balance is $1,000 and your annual percentage rate (APR) is 24%. Your minimum payment would be 1%—$10—plus your monthly finance charge—$20—for a total minimum payment of $30.
If you pay the credit card minimum payment, you won't have to pay a late fee. But you'll still have to pay interest on the balance you didn't pay. ... If you continue to make minimum payments, the compounding interest can make it difficult to pay off your credit card debt.
When it comes to your financial health, minimum payments on your credit cards are poison. A $2,000 credit balance with an 18% annual rate, with a minimum payment of 2% of the balance, or $10, whichever is greater, would take 370 months or just over 30 years to pay off.
The simplest way to make this calculation is to divide $10,000 by 12. This would mean you need to pay $833 per month to have contributed your goal amount to your debt pay-off plan. This number, though, doesn't factor in the interest on your debt.
In order to pay off $10,000 in credit card debt within 36 months, you need to pay $362 per month, assuming an APR of 18%. While you would incur $3,039 in interest charges during that time, you could avoid much of this extra cost and pay off your debt faster by using a 0% APR balance transfer credit card.
For example, if you have a $5,000 balance on a credit card charging 19.99% interest, your minimum monthly payment will probably be $150. If you make only the minimum payment on your credit card, it will take you more than four years to pay off the balance, and during that time you'll pay $2,357 in interest.
If it says zero payment do then you don't need to make a payment. Question is do you have a balance. If you have no balance this is likely because you had activity and paid it off before the bill, but of course you owe nothing so no minimum payment.
A minimum payment is the least amount owed on a debt by a set due date without incurring penalties. Minimum payment is a term commonly associated with credit card accounts.
Paying the minimum amount due ensures that the user will have to pay only the interest as and when required without any additional late fee charges. ... If you pay only the minimum amount due for a long time, you will have to pay high interest charges on the outstanding amount.
It's best to pay a credit card balance in full because credit card companies charge interest when you don't pay your bill in full every month. Depending on your credit score, which dictates your credit card options, you can expect to pay an extra 9% to 25%+ on a balance that you keep for a year.
Here's how it works. Credit cards charge interest on any balances that you don't pay by the due date each month. When you carry a balance from month to month, interest is accrued on a daily basis, based on what's called the Daily Periodic Rate (DPR).
By making a payment before your statement closing date, you reduce the total balance the card issuer reports to the credit bureaus. ... Even better, if your card issuer uses the adjusted-balance method for calculating your finance charges, making a payment right before your statement closing date can save you money.
So, for example, if you take home $2,500 a month, you should never pay more than $250 a month towards your credit card bills. So, take a look at your budget and bank statements and calculate how much money you're spending monthly to pay down debt. If that amount is greater than 10%, you might have a problem.
With minimum payments only, you'll pay off the debt in about 6 years and 11 months. If you pay an extra $50 each month with the minimum payment, the time can be shortened by about three years. The amount paid in interest will also decrease significantly from $3,294 to $1,656.
Some credit card issuers calculate the minimum payment as a percentage of your total statement balance, including interest and fees, usually between 1% and 3%. For example, say your minimum payment is calculated as 2% of the balance, which is $5,000. You would owe a minimum payment of $100.