How to use this credit card interest calculator
- Enter your card outstanding from your latest statement or banking app.
- Enter the interest rate (yearly). If your card quotes a monthly rate, multiply it by 12; the monthly equivalent shows under the field so you can check it.
- Choose how you will pay it off: a fixed payment each month, the minimum only, or by a date, where you set Debt-free in and the calculator finds the payment.
- Set the minimum amount due, % of outstanding, to match your statement. It starts at 5%.
- Open "More options" to set the minimum amount due floor or add new spending on the card each month.
The result shows how long the card will take to clear, the total interest and total paid, and how your plan compares with paying only the minimum amount due. A chart and a payoff schedule show how the outstanding falls over time.
How credit card interest is calculated
Monthly interest = outstanding × yearly rate ÷ 12 ÷ 100 The yearly rate is the monthly rate × 12, so 3.5% a month is 42% a year.
Each month, interest is added to the outstanding and your payment is taken off. Whatever is left carries into the next month and attracts interest again. At Indian card rates, interest takes a big share of every payment, so the outstanding falls more slowly than you might expect.
Worked example
Your card outstanding is ₹1 lakh at 3.5% a month (42% a year), and you pay ₹10,000 a month. In the first month, ₹3,500 of your payment goes on interest, so only ₹6,500 reduces the outstanding.
You clear the card in 13 payments: twelve of ₹10,000 and a final one of ₹5,265.30. You pay ₹1,25,265 in all, of which ₹25,265 is interest. Paying ₹12,000 a month instead would finish 2 months sooner and save another ₹4,972.
Why paying only the minimum amount due takes so long
Your statement shows a minimum amount due, commonly about 5% of the outstanding, though it varies by issuer. If you pay only that, interest keeps running on everything else. Because the minimum is a percentage, it shrinks as the outstanding falls, so each month you pay off a little less.
In the example, the first minimum amount due is ₹5,175: 5% of the ₹1,03,500 outstanding once the month's interest is added. Pay only the minimum each month, with a ₹200 floor, and the card takes 18 years 10 months to clear, costing ₹2,03,573 in interest, more than twice what you owed. Simply keeping your payment at ₹5,175 every month would clear it in 2 years 9 months and save ₹1,33,869.
How much difference your payment makes
₹1 lakh outstanding at 3.5% a month (42% a year), with no new spending:
| Monthly payment | Time to clear | Total interest | Total paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum amount due only | 18 years 10 months | ₹2,03,573 | ₹3,03,573 |
| ₹6,000 | 2 years 2 months | ₹52,717 | ₹1,52,717 |
| ₹7,500 | 1 year 7 months | ₹37,071 | ₹1,37,071 |
| ₹10,000 | 1 year 1 month | ₹25,265 | ₹1,25,265 |
| ₹15,000 | 8 months | ₹15,906 | ₹1,15,906 |
| ₹20,000 | 6 months | ₹11,922 | ₹1,11,922 |
Going from ₹6,000 to ₹10,000 a month saves ₹27,452 in interest and more than a year. If you would rather work back from a deadline, choose "By a date": clearing ₹1 lakh in 12 months needs ₹10,348.39 a month, and in 24 months ₹6,227.28 a month, with ₹49,455 of interest.
Monthly rates, new spending and next steps
Card interest in India is often quoted as a monthly rate, around 3–3.75% a month, which is roughly 36–45% a year. Enter the yearly figure. Even a small difference matters: on the example card, 3% a month means ₹3,000 of interest in the first month, and 3.75% means ₹3,750.
New purchases on the same card slow everything down. Add them under "More options": spending ₹3,000 a month while paying ₹10,000 stretches the example to 1 year 9 months and raises the interest to ₹41,057.
If you have several cards or loans, the debt payoff calculator shows which to clear first. If you are thinking of a personal loan to clear the card, check its real cost with the personal loan EMI calculator, which adds the processing fee and 18% GST. The FOIR calculator counts your minimum amount due as a fixed obligation alongside your EMIs, so clearing a card also lowers your FOIR before a loan application.
Frequently asked questions
How is credit card interest calculated?
What happens if I pay only the minimum amount due?
What is 3.5% a month as a yearly interest rate?
How long will it take to pay off ₹1 lakh of credit card debt?
How much should I pay to clear my card in a year?
Is a personal loan cheaper than carrying a card balance?
Sources and further reading
Independent, official guidance on this topic. Rules differ by country, so check the regulator where you live.
- Reserve Bank of India: regulations, notifications and consumer awareness · Reserve Bank of India
This calculator gives estimates for education and planning. It is not financial advice, and your lender's figures may differ. See how we calculate.