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44 million cardholders, which is about 24%, pay only the minimum monthly payment.

Dr. Robert D. Manning testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, May 2005

Credit Comparison Tool

Use the following tool to help evaluate your next purchasing decision by comparing different loan types and as a means to understand the different types of credit that may be available. The tool attempts to frame the terms of each credit type into a common, uniform manner: Total Interest Paid, APR, Monthly Payment, and Time to Payoff. Since the terms provided by lenders of each type are often very different, some assumptions were made in an effort to present this uniform comparison. The calculations here are not meant to be exact, but should be used as a learning tool and for rough comparative purposes only.

Start by inputting the amount needed to borrow and if you know it, how much you can pay each month. If you don't know, leave it blank. Common default values are used throughout the calculator, if for any of these you know your own real values, expand the section by clicking on 'Explain It" and input them.