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Paying the minimum. How long does that actually take?

The minimum is a share of what you still owe, so it shrinks as fast as the debt does.

Minimum payment trap

18.8years
The interest comes to more than the balance itself, because the minimum shrinks as fast as what you owe.
Interest on top
₹2,03,573
Paying more, instead
1.1 years
  • what you actually spent33%
  • interest on top67%
  • Balance ₹1,00,000
  • First minimum ₹5,175
Valmonkvalmonk.com/card · not advice

The link carries your numbers, so whoever opens it sees this exact result. Nothing is saved on our side.

Your numbers, your assumptions. Not advice. We can't see the rest of your life. What that means.

₹1L

The balance you're carrying, not this month's spend

% a year

Your statement quotes this per month. The chips show both, because a monthly figure hides what it comes to over a year.

A fixed amount every month, rather than whatever the statement asks for

What this assumes

All editable. Change one and the answer changes with it.

% of the balance

This is the mechanism. The minimum is a share of what you still owe, so it shrinks as the balance does and the repayment slows down exactly as fast.

Issuers set a rupee floor so the minimum cannot fall to nothing. Without one the balance would never quite close. Formulas vary, so check your own statement.

How this works, and where the numbers come from

Why the minimum barely moves the balance

The minimum is usually about 5% of what you owe. The interest is around 3.5% of what you owe, every month. So of a ₹5,175 payment on a ₹1 lakh balance, roughly ₹3,500 is interest and about ₹1,675 comes off the debt. That is the whole mechanism, and because both figures are percentages of the same shrinking number, the ratio never improves.

A monthly rate is not a small rate

Indian cards quote interest per month, and 3.5% a month sounds like very little. It is 42% a year. The monthly framing is most of why the annual cost stays invisible, which is why the rate chips here show both figures at once rather than making you do it.

The interest-free period stops applying

Once you carry a balance, most issuers withdraw the grace period on new purchases too, so interest runs from the day you tap rather than from the statement date. This tool models a balance being paid down and no further spending, which is the optimistic case.

Where these numbers come from

Minimum-due formulas vary by issuer, and both the percentage and the rupee floor are assumptions you can change here rather than constants buried in the code. Your own statement and schedule of charges carry the exact figures. Every rate on this page is a typical market range, not a quote.

Educational, not advice. Your numbers under assumptions you set.

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