Which credit card should you pay off first?
The one with the highest interest rate, if you want to pay the least interest overall. The CFPB calls this the highest interest rate method. The snowball method pays the smallest balance first instead, which some people find easier to stick with. Either way, keep paying at least the minimum on every other card.
A card at 0% for now is the exception to watch. It costs nothing while the promo lasts, then switches to the card's regular rate, which is often one of the highest you have.
How much is the interest costing you?
Probably more than you'd guess. The average rate on cards that charge interest was 22.36% in August 2026, according to the Federal Reserve. At that rate, a $10,000 balance costs about $186 a month in interest before any of the payment reduces what you owe.
Americans carried $1.26 trillion in credit card balances in the second quarter of 2026, according to the New York Fed. In its December 2025 report, the CFPB found about 15% of general purpose cardholders paid only the minimum.
Is a 0% balance transfer worth it?
Sometimes. Moving a balance usually costs a one-time fee, which averaged 4.3% of the amount at the largest issuers in late 2024, per the CFPB. It saves money if you clear the balance before the promo ends. Whatever is left then is charged the card's regular rate.
On $4,000, a 4.3% fee is $172. At a 25% rate, the same balance costs about $83 a month in interest, so the transfer pays for itself in around two months if the balance would otherwise sit there.
Will paying off cards raise your credit score?
Usually, yes. Amounts owed make up about 30% of a FICO score, and the CFPB suggests using no more than 30% of your total credit limits. As balances come down, that share falls with them.
What Candor watches for
Candor reads the accounts every day and keeps a short list of what's worth talking through. For this goal, these are the ones that come up. Each card is filled from the records, and your agent sees it with the figures behind it.
$204 a month in interest
$612 over the last 90 days, on Sapphire.
Interest is the part of each payment that doesn't reduce what you owe. Here that is $204 a month, about a third of what goes to the Sapphire.
Sapphire is 89% used
$8,900 of a $10,000 limit.
How much of your limits you use is a large part of a credit score. As the balance comes down, so does the share, which is progress worth seeing before the card reaches zero.
Discover's promo rate ends
$4,250 on it. Then 25% applies.
Once the promo ends, the Discover charges nearly as much as the Sapphire. The payoff order chosen in October may need another look by June.
Cards paid off: $610 a month going in
$830 a month gets there by July 2028.
The balances are what count, not the payments. When new charges land on the cards, $800 of payments can lower what you owe by much less, and the date drifts while every payment still goes out on time.
Everyday spending up $200 a month
$1,100 a month lately, from $900.
Payoff plans rarely fail on the payment. They fail when new spending lands on the same cards, so the balance goes down more slowly than the payments say it should.
Seven months in: a check-in
Discover's promo rate ends
$4,250 on it. Then 25% applies.
Your agent
The Discover's 0% rate ends June 1 with $4,250 on it. After that it charges 24.99%, about $89 a month in interest. The Sapphire is down to about $5,550 at 27.49%, so the plan stays the same: Sapphire first. If you'd rather not pay that new interest, a balance transfer card could hold the Discover balance for a one-time fee, about 4.3% on average at big issuers. I can look at offers with you.
You
Keep the Sapphire first, and let's look at transfer offers this weekend.
This is an illustrative example. The decision stays yours, and so does any change at your bank. Candor is read-only and cannot move money. It saves the updated plan and the reason, so the next check-in starts from what you decided. Candor is not a licensed advisor and gives no advice.
Common questions
- Should I use my savings to pay off a credit card?
- It depends on how much cushion is left afterward. Paying a 27% card with cash that earns under 1% saves money. But if the cash is gone, the next emergency often goes back on the card. Your agent can lay out both with your real figures, and the decision is yours.
- Can AI make a debt payoff plan?
- Yes. Give it each card's balance, rate, and minimum, or connect the accounts, and it can compare payoff orders and dates. What a one-time plan misses is everything after: new charges, rate changes, and promos ending. Candor watches the cards and tells your agent when one of those changes the plan.
- How much does Candor cost?
- Candor starts at $8.25 a month on the annual plan ($99 a year), or $14.99 month to month, and the first 7 days are free.
Sources
- How to reduce your debt Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, July 16, 2019
- G.19 Consumer Credit Federal Reserve, October 7, 2026
- Household Debt and Credit Report, Q2 2026 Federal Reserve Bank of New York, August 11, 2026
- The Consumer Credit Card Market Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, December 1, 2025
- What is a balance transfer fee? Can a balance transfer fee be charged on a zero percent interest rate offer? Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, September 23, 2024
- How do I get and keep a good credit score? Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, December 12, 2024
- What's in my FICO Scores myFICO