What happens when you only pay the minimum on a Mexican credit card?

In June 2023, Banxico counted the cardholders who carried a balance and paid at least the minimum. 25.6% of them paid exactly the minimum their bank asked for.[1] For most of those cards, that minimum was a small slice of the debt: on 88.8% of them, it was 15% of the total balance or less.[1]

The minimum payment is the number printed most clearly on a statement. It tells you what keeps the card in good standing. It doesn’t tell you how much of the debt it actually pays off.

The minimum payment keeps your card current. It isn’t designed to clear your debt.

How the rules define the minimum payment

The minimum payment (pago mínimo) is the larger of two amounts. The first is 1.5% of the revolving balance (saldo insoluto), not counting the period’s interest or VAT, plus that interest and its VAT. The second is 1.25% of the credit limit.[2] If the result is more than the revolving balance, the card issuer must charge the balance instead.[2] Issuers can ask for a higher minimum, but never a lower one.[2]

Who sets the rule depends on who issued the card. Banxico’s Circular 13/2011 covers non-bank issuers, such as unregulated sofomes, popular and community financial societies, savings-and-loan cooperatives and development banks; it took effect on 1 September 2011, and the 1.5% and 1.25% rates have applied since 4 January 2013.[2] Banks follow Banxico’s Circular 34/2010, which sets the same formula.[1] Either way, the figure on your statement comes from a regulator’s formula, not from a choice your bank made that month.

What the minimum actually represents for most cards

Banxico’s June 2023 figures show that on 88.8% of cards held by people carrying a balance, the minimum was 15% of the total balance or less.[1] Only 0.6% of those cards had a minimum above 90% of the balance.[1] The picture barely changed from a year earlier: in June 2022, 89.3% of cards had a minimum of 15% or less.[1]

For nearly nine cards in ten, then, paying the minimum leaves at least 85% of the balance in place for the next month.[1] Because the minimum includes that period’s interest, only part of it reduces what you owe.

How many cardholders pay only the minimum

In June 2023, 41.7% of all cardholders carried a balance from one month to the next, which Banxico calls clientela no-totalera, so they paid interest to the card issuer.[1] Of those who paid at least the minimum, 25.6% paid exactly the minimum and 74.4% paid more.[1]

These figures cover general-purpose cards (not store cards) issued by banks and regulated sofomes, whose holders were up to date on their payments.[1] People who had already fallen behind are not in them, so the real share of people struggling with card debt is not shown here.

What to check before you decide

• Does your minimum follow the formula? It must be at least 1.5% of the revolving balance plus interest and VAT, or 1.25% of your limit, whichever is higher.[2] Ask your issuer to show you the calculation.
• What share of your balance does the minimum cover? On most cards it is 15% or less, so the rest of the debt stays and keeps charging interest.[1]
• Are you carrying a balance? If you don’t pay the full amount, you are among the 41.7% of cardholders who pay interest.[1]

Paying the minimum keeps your card current, but on most cards it leaves most of what you owe in place for next month.