You are carrying credit card debt across one, two, or more cards, and you are wondering whether moving the balances to a personal loan would save money. The answer depends on the card APRs, the loan APR, the monthly payments, and the term. A lower rate on a loan does not automatically mean a lower total cost if the loan term is longer than the time it would take to clear the cards at the current payments.
This calculator models both routes: the cards as they are (simulated month by month at the current payments) and a consolidation loan at an illustrative APR over a chosen term. It shows the total interest, total cost, and clearance time for each, and produces a net saving or net cost figure. If the cards have payments close to the minimum, the tool flags the minimum payment trap. If the loan term is longer than the card clearance time, the tool flags that consolidation may cost more despite the lower rate. All figures are illustrative. This tool is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice.
At a Glance
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Enter up to 4 card balances. The tool simulates each card month by month and aggregates the total interest, total cost, and longest clearance time across all cards.
Each card is simulated independently at its own APR and monthly payment. The combined figures show the true cost of carrying multiple card balances: the total interest across all cards, the total amount paid, and how long until the last card is cleared. For many borrowers, seeing the combined interest figure is the first time the total cost of their card debt becomes visible.
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The consolidation loan uses the combined card balance as the principal. The comparison is total cost on cards vs total cost on loan, not rate vs rate.
A loan at 8% APR replacing cards at 22% APR sounds like a clear saving. But if the cards would be cleared in 20 months at current payments and the loan term is 5 years, the longer term can erode or eliminate the rate advantage. The calculator shows both scenarios and produces the net figure. Rate comparison alone is not enough.
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The tool detects when card payments are close to the minimum level and flags it. This is the scenario where consolidation is almost always the better route.
When card payments sit near the minimum, most of each payment covers interest and the balance barely decreases. Industry data shows that borrowers paying only the minimum on a typical credit card balance can take 25 to 30 years to clear the debt, paying thousands in interest on top of the amount originally borrowed. A personal loan clears the same debt in a fixed term. The calculator flags cards where the payment is close to the minimum level.
Credit Card to Personal Loan Savings Calculator
Interactive tool
Credit Card to Personal Loan Savings Calculator
Enter your card balances, APRs, and payments, then set a consolidation loan rate and term. The tool simulates both routes month by month and shows the net saving or cost.
Your data stays private. Nothing you enter is stored, transmitted, or accessible to anyone. All calculations run entirely in your browser.
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Not sure what rate you would get? The credit score band rate estimator and APR band comparator can help. Comparing to a 0% balance transfer card instead? Use the personal loan vs credit card comparator.
| Metric | Keep paying the cards | Consolidate to loan |
|---|---|---|
| Balance | – | – |
| Monthly payment | – | – |
| Total interest | – | – |
| Total paid | – | – |
| Time to clear | – | – |
Net result
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About this calculator
Useful for borrowers with one to four card balances who want to see whether moving them to a personal loan saves money, and if so, how much.
Each card is modelled individually at its own APR and payment. The loan uses the combined balance. The comparison shows total interest, total cost, and clearance time for both routes.
Cards with near-minimum payments are flagged. If the loan term exceeds the card clearance time, the tool warns that consolidation may cost more despite the lower rate.
This tool serves both silos. The debt consolidation calculator covers broader consolidation scenarios including secured lending.
How to use this calculator
The balance and APR are on the card statement. The monthly payment is what you actually pay (not the minimum, unless that is what you pay). Each card shows a clearance summary: how long to clear and total interest at the current payment.
Use a rate from a soft-search eligibility check if available. The credit score band rate estimator and APR band comparator can help you estimate a realistic rate for your profile. Try different terms: a shorter term saves more interest but has a higher monthly payment. A longer term may erode the rate saving.
The comparison table shows total interest and clearance time for both routes. The net result shows the saving or additional cost. The verdict explains why, and flags minimum payment traps or term-length mismatches.
Move the loan term slider to find the shortest term where the monthly payment is affordable. This is the term that maximises the saving. If no term produces a saving (cards are being cleared efficiently at high payments), the verdict will say so.
When consolidation costs more despite a lower rate
A lower rate does not always mean a lower total cost. If the cards are being cleared efficiently (at payments significantly above the minimum), the clearance time may be shorter than the loan term. In that scenario, the cards finish first and the loan keeps charging interest for the remaining months of its term. The additional months of loan interest can exceed the rate saving.
For example, £5,000 across two cards at an average of 20% APR, with combined payments of £300 per month, clears in approximately 20 months with approximately £907 in interest. A consolidation loan at 8% APR over 5 years has a monthly payment of approximately £101 and total interest of approximately £1,083. The loan rate is less than half the card rate, but the total interest is higher because the debt is outstanding for 60 months instead of 20. The loan also locks in 5 years of payments where the cards would have been clear in under 2 years.
The calculator flags this by comparing the loan term against the card clearance time. If the loan term is longer, the verdict warns that the saving may be reduced or eliminated. Shortening the loan term is the fix: a 2-year loan on the same £5,000 at 8% has a monthly payment of approximately £226 and total interest of approximately £427, saving approximately £480 compared to the cards. The guide to is debt consolidation right for you covers the broader decision framework.
Show the working
Card route: £5,000 at 20% APR, £300/mo
5-year loan: £5,000 at 8% APR
2-year loan: £5,000 at 8% APR
Comparison
Figures are rounded to the nearest pound. The card simulation uses the tool’s month-by-month model with minimum payments modelled at max(2.5% of balance, £5). The loan uses the standard annuity formula. All figures are illustrative.
The minimum payment trap on credit cards
Credit card minimum payments in the UK are typically structured as a percentage of the outstanding balance (commonly between 1% and 2.5%) or a fixed pound floor (usually £5 to £25), whichever is higher. At these levels, most of each payment covers the monthly interest charge, and very little reduces the principal balance. Because the minimum payment amount drops as the balance drops, the debt can take decades to clear. MoneySavingExpert estimates that a £3,000 balance at a typical credit card rate on minimum payments only can take close to 30 years to clear, costing thousands of pounds in interest on top of the amount originally borrowed.
The calculator detects when a card’s payment is close to the minimum level relative to the starting balance. When flagged, it means the early payments are dominated by interest, even though the fixed-payment model used by the tool clears the debt faster than true declining minimum payments would in practice. In either case, the core problem is the same: payments that sit near the minimum make barely any progress against the principal. Consolidation to a personal loan is almost always the better route in this scenario, because the loan has a fixed term and a fixed end date. Even if the loan rate is comparable to the card rate, the fixed term forces the debt to be cleared in a defined period rather than stretching indefinitely.
The most important step after consolidating card debt is not to use the cards again. If the balances are transferred to a loan and the cards are then used to accumulate new balances, the total debt increases rather than decreasing. The guide to personal loans vs credit cards covers the structural differences, and the guide to what is debt consolidation covers the process and risks in full.
Related tools
Broader consolidation tool covering all debt types, including secured lending options for homeowners.
Model the consolidation loan independently at any amount, APR, and term.
For new purchases rather than existing debt. Compares the cost of funding a purchase by loan vs card, including 0% promotional rates.
Not sure what to look at next?
All of our personal loan guides and tools in one placeFrequently asked questions
Does this include balance transfer fees?
No. This calculator models consolidation through a new personal loan, not a balance transfer credit card. If you are considering a 0% balance transfer card instead, the fee (typically 1% to 3.5% of the balance transferred) should be factored into the comparison. The personal loan vs credit card comparator handles 0% promotional rates and is the more appropriate tool for that scenario.
For personal loan consolidation, most mainstream lenders do not charge an arrangement fee, so the loan cost in this calculator reflects the total interest only. If a specific lender does charge a fee, add it mentally to the loan’s total cost when reading the result, or use the loan offer comparison tool which includes a fee field.
What happens to my credit score if I consolidate?
Consolidating credit card debt into a personal loan creates several changes on the credit file. The personal loan application triggers a hard search (one-off, minor impact). The new loan account appears as an active instalment account. The card balances drop to zero (or close to it), which significantly improves credit utilisation, one of the most heavily weighted scoring factors. The net effect on the credit score is often positive, because the utilisation improvement outweighs the hard search impact.
The risk is if the cards are used again after consolidation. If new balances accumulate on the cards while the loan is also being repaid, the total debt increases and the credit file shows both the loan and the card balances, which worsens the assessment. Closing the cards after consolidation, or at least not using them, prevents this. The guide to how personal loans affect your credit score covers the mechanics in detail.
Should I consolidate all my cards or just some?
Consolidating all cards into a single loan produces the simplest outcome: one payment, one rate, one end date. However, if one card has a low balance that will be cleared in a few months at the current payment, including it in the consolidation may not save money because the remaining interest on that card is already small. The calculator allows modelling different combinations by adding or removing cards to see which produces the largest net saving.
For borrowers with a mix of high-APR and low-APR cards, consolidating only the high-APR balances and continuing to pay the low-APR cards independently can produce a better outcome than consolidating everything. The debt prioritisation tool helps identify which debts to consolidate and which to leave in place.
What if I cannot get a personal loan at a rate lower than my card APR?
If the personal loan rate available is similar to or higher than the card APRs, consolidation does not produce an interest saving. However, the loan still provides a structural benefit: a fixed term with a guaranteed end date, which the cards do not. For borrowers trapped in minimum payments on cards, a personal loan at even the same rate clears the debt in a defined period rather than stretching over decades.
If the loan rate is significantly higher than the card rates (uncommon, but possible for borrowers with lower credit profiles), consolidation is unlikely to be beneficial on either cost or structural grounds. In this scenario, increasing the card payments to well above the minimum is the more effective route. The calculator shows this: if the card total cost is lower than the loan total cost, the verdict recommends staying with the cards.
Will the lender pay off the cards directly?
Some lenders offer to pay the card balances directly as part of the consolidation process, sending the funds to the card providers rather than to the borrower’s bank account. This ensures the cards are cleared and reduces the risk of the funds being used for other purposes. Not all lenders offer this, and it is not a requirement. If the funds are sent to the borrower’s account, the borrower is responsible for using them to clear the cards.
If the lender does pay the cards directly, check that the full balance on each card is cleared, including any interest accrued since the last statement. A small residual balance left on a card will continue to accrue interest. Contacting each card provider after the payment to confirm a zero balance and requesting closure of the account (if desired) ensures the consolidation is complete.
Squaring Up
Moving credit card debt to a personal loan saves money when the lower loan rate reduces the total interest by more than the difference in term length adds. The calculator models both routes month by month and shows the net result. If card payments are close to the minimum, consolidation is almost always the better route because the loan provides a fixed end date. If card payments are high and clearance is efficient, a longer loan term can cost more despite the lower rate. The key is to match the loan term to the card clearance time, not to extend it for a lower monthly payment. And the most important step after consolidation is not to use the cards again.
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Everything in one place, across secured loans, debt consolidation, and home improvementsUpdate log: August 2026
What changed in this update
Worked examples updated with re-verified figures from the tool’s own simulation engine. The term-trap comparison example now uses a clearer scenario that more directly illustrates how a longer loan term can cost more despite a lower rate. A show-the-working dropdown was added so readers can see the calculation steps. The minimum payment trap section was revised to reference industry data (MoneySavingExpert) and to distinguish between the tool’s fixed-payment model and true declining minimum payments in practice. Minimum payment model variation across UK providers is now disclosed in the tool’s note.
The calculator itself received several improvements: the loan term slider now offers 6-month increments (previously whole years only), the payment slider steps in £5 increments (previously £25), and links to rate estimation tools were added below the loan controls. The comparison panel was rebuilt as a semantic HTML table for screen reader accessibility, and all text/background colour combinations now meet WCAG AA contrast standards. Label-input associations, aria-valuetext on sliders, and a live-region announcement of results were added. Button touch targets were increased to the 44px minimum, and visible focus indicators were added for keyboard navigation. Balance transfer fee range updated to reflect current market data.
This calculator is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The tool models card minimum payments at the higher of 2.5% of the balance or £5. Actual UK minimum payment structures vary by provider. All loan and card rates are illustrative. Consolidating credit card debt into a personal loan does not reduce the total amount owed; it restructures it into a different product with different terms. If the cards are used again after consolidation, the total debt increases. The loan rate offered to any individual depends on their credit profile, income, and the lender’s criteria. Missed repayments can affect your credit rating and may result in further action.
