Credit Card Finance Charge Calculator for Multiple APR Balances

Credit Card Finance Charge Calculator Sign

This calculator will calculate the current finance charge for a credit card containing up to 3 different interest rates.

Unlike most credit card interest calculators, this calculator will also calculate the additional payments and costs that are created by the devious method credit card companies use to apply your payments to your multiple rate balances.

This particular version asks you to enter the minimum payment amount and creates a 5-year payment allocation comparison chart.

If you would like the minimum payment amount calculated for you, and you would like to see the payment allocation comparison chart for the entire repayment term, feel free to use the alternate version to calculate credit card interest charges.

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Credit Card Finance Charge Calculator

Calculate current finance charges for a credit card having a balance made up of multiple finance charge rates.

Special Instructions

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Selected Data Record:

A Data Record is a set of calculator entries that are stored in your web browser's Local Storage. If a Data Record is currently selected in the "Data" tab, this line will list the name you gave to that data record. If no data record is selected, or you have no entries stored for this calculator, the line will display "None".

DataData recordData recordSelected data record: None
Min pmt:Minimum payment:Minimum payment amount:Minimum payment amount:

Minimum payment amount:

Enter the minimum payment amount from your most recent credit card statement. Enter as a dollar amount but without the dollar sign and any commas. The calculator will use this figure along with your statement balance to calculate your minimum payment percentage.

$
Annual fee:Annual fee:Annual fee:Annual fee:

Annual fee:

If your credit card has one, enter the annual fee. Enter as a dollar amount but without the dollar sign and any commas. The calculator will take 1/12th of the fee and add it to your current finance charge.

$
Penalty APR:Penalty APR:Penalty APR:Penalty APR:

Penalty APR:

Enter the penalty APR as stated on your credit card statement. Enter as a percentage, but without the percent sign. The calculator will use this entry to show you what will happen to your monthly finance charge if you are late making a payment.

%
Intro months:Introductory months:Number of introductory months:Number of months introductory rate in effect:

Number of months introductory rate in effect:

If you will be entering a balance transfer amount below, select the number of months the introductory rate will be in effect for.

Enter Balance BreakdownEnter Balance Breakdown:Enter Beginning Balances, New Charges, and Rates:Enter Beginning Balances, New Charges, and Rates:

Enter Beginning Balances, New Charges, and Rates:

Expand the description in each row to enter the beginning balance, current charges, and interest rates for each interest rate balance.

TransTransferTransferred balanceTransferred balance (0%):
Begin balance:
$
New charges:
$
APR:
%
End Balance:

Transferred balance:

Enter the beginning balance, current month transfers (if any) and the interest rate for this portion of the overall balance. Leave off all dollar signs, percent signs, and commas.

$0.00
PurchPurchasesPurchases balancePurchases balance (0%):
Begin balance:
$
New charges:
$
APR:
%
End Balance:

Purchases balance:

Enter the purchases beginning balance, current month purchases (if any) and the interest rate for purchases. Leave off all dollar signs, percent signs, and commas.

$0.00
CashCashCash advance balanceCash advance balance (0%):
Begin balance:
$
New charges:
$
APR:
%
End Balance:

Cash advance balance:

Enter the cash advance beginning balance, current month cash advances (if any) and the interest rate for cash advances. Leave off all dollar signs, percent signs, and commas.

$0.00
Total bal:Total balance:Total credit card balance:Total credit card balance:

Total credit card balance:

This is the total of all sub-balances and new charges on your credit card.

$0.00
Trans chg:Transfer charge:Transfer finance charges:Transfer finance charges:

Transfer finance charges:

This is the current finance charge for the low introductory rate portion of your balance.

Purch chg:Purchases charge:Purchases finance charges:Purchases finance charges:

Purchases finance charges:

This is the current finance charge for the purchases rate portion of your balance.

Cash chg:Cash charge:Cash advance finance charges:Cash advance finance charges:

Cash advance finance charges:

This is the current interest charges for the cash advance portion of your balance.

Annual fee:Annual fee:Annual fee:Annual fee:

Annual fee:

This is 1/12th of the annual fee you are paying to have the card.

Total chg:Total charges:Total finance charges and fees:Total finance charges and fees:

Total finance charges and fees:

This is the total current finance charges plus 1/12th of the annual fee.

If penalty:If penalty APR:If penalty APR is in effect:Interest charges if penalty APR is in effect:

Interest charges if penalty APR is in effect:

This is how much your finance charges would be if you had been late making one of your past monthly payments.

Payment Allocation Comparison
Tap the text for a description of each row result.
CompareNumber of Monthly PaymentsInterest Charges
Lowest first:Lowest first:Lowest rate first:Lowest rate balance first:

Lowest rate balance first:

This row shows the number of payments and interest cost that will result if you make only the minimum monthly payments and if your credit card company applies the principal portion of your payment to reducing the lowest rate balance on your card (unethical payment allocation).

Highest first:Highest first:Highest rate first:Highest rate balance first:

Highest rate balance first:

This row shows the number of payments and interest cost that will result if you make only the minimum monthly payments and if your credit card company applies the principal portion of your payment to reducing the highest rate balance on your card (ethical payment allocation). Note that if you only entered data for 1 sub-balance type, then this row will be blank.

Unethical cost:Unethical cost:Cost of unethical allocation:Cost of unethical payment allocation:

Cost of unethical payment allocation:

This row shows the additional payments and interest costs due to the unethical payment allocation by credit card companies. Note that if you only entered data for 1 sub-balance type, then this row will be blank.

If you would like to save the current entries to the secure online database, tap or click on the Data tab, select "New Data Record", give the data record a name, then tap or click the Save button. To save changes to previously saved entries, simply tap the Save button. Please select and "Clear" any data records you no longer need.

Help and Tools

Learn

Credit card companies apply minimum payment amount to lowest rate balance first.

Jaw-Dropping Payment Allocation Method

If you are like most people, people who have never bothered to flip the credit card statement over and read the fine print that details how truly unscrupulous credit card companies are, you're in for a real shock. A shock that I hope makes you mad enough to vow to never carry a balance on a credit card ever again.

Suppose you have a balance on your credit card that includes multiple rate sub-balances. These might include:

  • Low rate sub-balances transferred from another card.
  • Normal rate sub-balances consisting of purchases.
  • High rate cash-advance sub-balances.

Now you would think that credit card companies would, at the very least, apply an applicable portion of each of your monthly payments to paying down all of your sub-balances at the same time. NOT!

If you make only the minimum monthly payment, the credit card company is free to apply your entire principal payment (what's left after subtracting finance charges) to the lowest rate sub-balance on your card -- regardless of your creditworthiness.

This means that if your balance includes a 0% sub-balance and a 24.9% sub-balance, the credit card company will apply your entire principal payment to paying down the 0% sub-balance.

As you will see by using the credit card finance charge calculator, this can add up to thousands of dollars of additional finances charges.

Now, if that doesn't make you mad enough to stop sending your potential future wealth to credit card companies, then I'm sorry, but your brain has been washed clean of its ability to tell right from wrong.

Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure "Act"

On February of 2010, a new law went into effect that requires credit card companies to apply amounts over and above the minimum payment to the highest interest rate sub-balance.

You know what that means don't you? Yep, the credit card company lobbyists that are being paid from the finance charges you are sending them were once again successful in getting Congress to bow down and kiss their feet.

If Congress were truly committed to making credit companies accountable and responsible, the law would have required the credit card companies to apply the entire principal payment amount to the highest rate balances, not just the amount over and above the minimum payment.

In other words, the Act was just an "act."

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Adjust Calculator Width:

Move the slider to left and right to adjust the calculator width. Note that the Help and Tools panel will be hidden when the calculator is too wide to fit both on the screen. Moving the slider to the left will bring the instructions and tools panel back into view.

Also note that some calculators will reformat to accommodate the screen size as you make the calculator wider or narrower. If the calculator is narrow, columns of entry rows will be converted to a vertical entry form, whereas a wider calculator will display columns of entry rows, and the entry fields will be smaller in size ... since they will not need to be "thumb friendly".

Show/Hide Popup Keypads:

Select Show or Hide to show or hide the popup keypad icons located next to numeric entry fields. These are generally only needed for mobile devices that don't have decimal points in their numeric keypads. So if you are on a desktop, you may find the calculator to be more user-friendly and less cluttered without them.

Stick/Unstick Tools:

Select Stick or Unstick to stick or unstick the help and tools panel. Selecting "Stick" will keep the panel in view while scrolling the calculator vertically. If you find that annoying, select "Unstick" to keep the panel in a stationary position.

If the tools panel becomes "Unstuck" on its own, try clicking "Unstick" and then "Stick" to re-stick the panel.