Adam McCann, Financial Writer
@adam_mccann
The minimum payment on a credit card is the lowest amount of money the cardholder can pay each month to keep their account status “current” rather than “late.” A minimum payment is often $20 to $25 or a share of 1% to 3% of the card balance, whichever is greater. If the dollar amount is higher than the actual balance charged to the card, then the full balance is the minimum payment. The exact details differ from issuer to issuer, however.
Cardholders can find the minimum payment required by their credit card on the monthly statement they receive by mail or email. To avoid any late fees or penalty rates, it’s important to pay this amount or more by the due date. And while there’s never a requirement to pay more than the minimum, any unpaid balance carried between months begins to rack up interest. In addition, not paying in full gets rid of the card’s grace period. That means new purchases start to accrue interest immediately, rather than only starting to after the due date. Cardholders typically need to pay their entire balance in full for two consecutive months to get a grace period back.
The only credit cards that don’t typically have minimum payments are charge cards. These cards generally require payment in full every month. However, the vast majority of credit cards allow cardholders to carry a balance between months. Charge cards are rare and are usually considered luxury cards.

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A credit card minimum payment is the least amount of money you must pay on your credit card each month. If you fail to pay the minimum payment by the due date, you’ll likely pay a late fee, and you’ll get fairly severe credit score damage after a few missed due dates.
The amount of a minimum payment on a credit card varies depending on your total balance and your credit card company. It’s usually the greater of a certain dollar amount ($25, for example) or a percentage of the balance (typically 1%), plus any amount past due.
Credit Card Minimum Payment Amounts for Major Credit Card Companies:
Card Issuer |
Standard Minimum Payment |
Pay Full Balance If Less Than… |
What Else? |
American Express |
1% of balance or $35 (whichever is more) |
$35 |
Up to 1/24th of any over-limit amount, rounded to the nearest dollar |
Bank of America |
1% of balance or $25 (whichever is more) |
$25 |
Interest and late fees |
Capital One |
1% of balance or $25 (whichever is more) |
$25 |
Any amount past due and any interest charges |
Chase |
1% of balance or $25 (whichever is more) |
$25 |
Any amount past due plus interest and late fees |
Citibank |
1% of the balance for the billing period + any interest owed or 1.5% of the balance due (whichever is more) |
$25 |
Any amount past due plus overlimit fees, and possibly interest charges |
Discover |
3% of balance + past due amount or $20 or $15 + new interest and late fees (whichever is more) |
$20 |
Possibly late fees, past due amounts, and/or new interest If $15 + new interest and late fees ends up being the formula used, the total must be 4% or less of balance |
Wells Fargo |
1% of balance + fees and interest or $25 (whichever is more) |
$25 |
Overlimit amounts are not included in minimum payment amount, but must be paid Possibly fees and interest Minimum payment will be rounded up to the nearest dollar |
When you see how low many minimum payments are, it can be tempting to just pay the minimum every month. But it’s not a good idea in the long run - it will certainly cost more money, and it could snowball into serious credit card debt if you’re spending more than you can pay off every month.
It’s also important to remember that most card issuers will add any past-due and over-limit amounts, late fees, and interest charges to a minimum payment. So, despite the word “minimum,” these payments may not always be so low.
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