Your Net WorthMinimum payment
The minimum payment is the smallest amount a lender requires you to pay each month to keep the account in good standing.
On a credit card, the minimum payment is usually a small percentage of the balance (often 1% to 3%) or a fixed floor amount, whichever is higher. It is designed to keep the account current, not to clear the debt quickly.
The trap is that the minimum falls as the balance falls, so a card you could clear in three years at a fixed payment can take well over a decade on minimums alone, with interest mounting all the way. Fixing your payment at today's level, rather than letting it decline, is one of the simplest ways to shorten a payoff timeline.
In a snowball or avalanche plan, every debt gets its minimum payment first, and whatever is left of your monthly budget attacks the priority debt. When a debt clears, its freed minimum rolls onto the next one.