If you only pay the minimum due, it will take forever to pay off your balance and cost lots more in interest charges. Most credit card companies compute the minimum payment as 2.5 percent of the balance. For example, if you only pay the minimum on a $2,000 balance at an APR of 13 percent, it'll take just about 14 years to pay it off completely. During that time you pay about $1,350 in interest. Check out how long it will take you to pay off your credit card debts.