Credit card consequences: 'Infinite months' required in some cases

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By RODD CAYTON/Lincoln Journal Star

Paying off a $4,000 credit card debt within five years would require a consumer to pay $92.41 a month, if the consumer’s interest rate is 13.68 percent, the recent national average standard variable rate, according to bankrate.com, a financial information Web site.

That consumer would pay $1,544.60 in interest over that period. But in reality, many card issuers require nowhere near $92.41 to be paid; most ask for 2 to 3 percent of the outstanding balance as a minimum.

According to bankrate.com, it would take “infinite months” to pay off the $4,000 debt by sending less than $46 a month, and 74 months by paying $80 a month, or two percent.

New federal guidance says a consumer’s minimum credit card payment should include all interest due for the month of the statement, plus at least one percent of the outstanding principal.

Under those guidelines, paying off the $4,000 debt in the example above would take 12 years, which is still too long for Steven B. Smith, CEO of In2M Corp., a Draper, Utah, financial software and services company.

“Even if all you can do is pay the minimum, make sure that you at least do that,” Smith said. “It’s expensive and will take a long time, but by paying at least the minimum each month, you’ll keep the credit scoring folks happy, which can save you thousands of dollars later on.”