Interest

• The longer you take to pay off your credit card balance, the more money you pay your credit card provider in interest payments. Minimum payments are set low. It's in the interests of banks that you pay off as little of your balance as possible each month. Interest is charged to your account daily, so the more you owe, the more you'll pay. Even increasing your payment by $10 a month can make a difference.
  
  

Disposable Income

• Making savings from your monthly budget to pay down your credit card debt might be difficult now, but if you can afford to, you'll notice huge benefits once the balance has been paid off. Meeting the minimum payment on multiple credit cards can take a sizable chunk out of your income. If you're prepared to budget over the short to medium term in an effort to clear your card debt, this money will be added to your disposable income once your balance has been reduced to zero. You could even put the money you save into an a savings account and start earning interest on it. If you're paying a high rate of interest on your card, consider a fixed-rate loan to clear it off more quickly.
  
  

Card Benefits

• Once you clear your balance, start taking advantage of any benefits offered on your card for free. Consumers with large outstanding debt on their cards can rarely make purchases and take advantage of cash-back deals and other promotional offers. If you reduce your balance to zero, you can use your card for everyday spending and earn money and rewards. If you then clear your full balance every month, the credit card company is essentially paying you for using the card.
  
  

Credit Score

• A common misconception is that making timely payments to all your lenders will improve, or at least maintain, your credit score under all circumstances. While going over your limit or missing payments does damage your profile, having large outstanding debts that are not being paid off can be just as bad. If you have borrowed close to the available limit from all your credit providers, your score will be adversely affected. If you pay off your cards, then clear the balance every month, your creditworthiness can improve.