Credit card minimum payment in the UAE: how it works and what it costs

A credit card minimum payment is the smallest amount your bank asks you to pay by the due date, so that the payment is not late. It does not stop interest: what you leave unpaid is charged. The Central Bank sets no minimum percentage, so each bank’s own terms decide how the figure is worked out.

Key takeaways

• Your monthly statement shows the balance, the minimum payment and the due date; paying at least the minimum by that date keeps the payment on time.
• Paying only the minimum leaves the rest of the balance to be charged interest, so an early minimum payment can go mostly on interest rather than on what you borrowed.
• Only clearing the full statement balance by the due date means no interest or finance fees on it, under the Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Standards.
• Missing the minimum can bring a late payment fee, which the Central Bank caps at AED 230 plus VAT, and interest keeps running.
• How your bank works out the minimum is in its card terms and Key Facts Statement, so read those rather than assume a percentage.

What the minimum payment is

Each month your statement shows what you owe, the minimum payment and the payment due date. The minimum is the least you can pay by that date without the payment being late. It is a floor set by the bank, not a measure of what is sensible to pay.

If you pay more than the minimum, the extra goes towards the balance. If you pay the full statement balance, you owe nothing further for that statement. What happens in between is where the cost sits, and it is the subject of the rest of this guide. For how interest and fees on cards work in general, see credit card interest and fees.

How banks set the minimum

The Central Bank sets no minimum percentage for card repayments. Each bank’s terms say how its minimum payment is worked out, and the method can differ from one bank and one card to another, so do not carry a figure from one card to another.

What the Central Bank does require is disclosure. Under its Consumer Protection Standards a bank must set out its rates and fees before you sign, and your monthly statement must show the annual interest rate charged, separately from other items. Ask for the Key Facts Statement and the card terms, and look for how the minimum is calculated, the due date and the late payment fee.

The minimum payment is also not what the credit bureau uses to judge your debt load. The Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB) reports an Income Utilisation Ratio that counts 5% of every active card limit as a monthly payment, whatever the balance. On a limit of AED 20,000 that is 5% × AED 20,000 = AED 1,000 a month in the ratio, even if your minimum payment that month is lower.

What paying only the minimum costs

When you pay only part of a balance, interest is charged on what is left. The example below shows how minimum payments divide between interest and the balance over two months.

Worked example

Two months of minimum payments on an AED 10,000 balance

The balance, rate and minimum are illustrations, not any bank’s terms. The card has a balance of AED 10,000 and no new spending. Interest is 3% a month (36% a year), charged on the balance left after each payment. The minimum is assumed to be 5% of that month’s statement balance, and each payment is made on the due date.

1. Month 1 minimum = 5% × AED 10,000 = AED 500. Balance left = AED 10,000 - AED 500 = AED 9,500.
2. Month 1 interest = 3% × AED 9,500 = AED 285. New statement balance = AED 9,500 + AED 285 = AED 9,785.
3. Month 2 minimum = 5% × AED 9,785 = AED 489.25. Balance left = AED 9,785 - AED 489.25 = AED 9,295.75.
4. Month 2 interest = 3% × AED 9,295.75 = AED 278.87. New statement balance = AED 9,295.75 + AED 278.87 = AED 9,574.62.
5. Over the two months you paid AED 500 + AED 489.25 = AED 989.25, of which AED 285 + AED 278.87 = AED 563.87 was interest. The balance fell by only AED 10,000 - AED 9,574.62 = AED 425.38.

On these figures, AED 989.25 of minimum payments cut the balance by only AED 425.38, because AED 563.87 of it went on interest.

The interest in the example is on the balance left after the payment, which follows the Standards’ wording that interest runs from the due date on the outstanding balance. Your card’s terms may differ, so test your own figures. Our credit card payoff calculator shows how long a balance takes to clear and what it costs, paying the minimum or a fixed amount.

A minimum that is a percentage of the balance falls as the balance falls, so the balance shrinks more slowly with each month. A fixed amount behaves differently. Check which your bank uses before you rely on either.

How interest works on what you leave

Three Central Bank rules decide how much of the balance you pay interest on:

• Full payment. If you pay the full statement balance by the due date, the bank may not charge interest or finance fees on it (Consumer Protection Standards, clause 7.1.5.14).
• Part payment. If you pay only part, interest or finance fees are worked out on the outstanding balance from the contractual due date to the date you pay it.
• No interest on interest. A lender may not charge interest on accrued interest on any consumer credit product, cards included (clause 7.1.5.12). Your statement must list all the interest charged, so you can check each month’s charge.

Cash advances are excluded from the full-payment rule, so clearing your statement on time does not cancel interest on cash you withdrew. Card rates can be quoted per month or per year: 3% a month is 36% a year, and the statement must show the annual rate.

If you miss the minimum

If the minimum is not paid by the due date, the payment is late. The Central Bank’s fee table, Appendix 2 to Regulation 29/2011, caps the late payment fee on a credit card at AED 230 before VAT. VAT is added at 5%, so the most a bank can charge is AED 230 + (5% × AED 230) = AED 230 + AED 11.50 = AED 241.50. Interest continues on the unpaid balance as well.

Your card terms may attach other consequences to a missed payment, and we do not list them here because they differ by bank. Read the late payment section of your terms and Key Facts Statement. How late payments are recorded at the bureau is covered in our credit score guides.

Minimum, full balance or more

What you pay by the due date decides which rule applies.

Source: CBUAE Consumer Protection Standards, Article 7, and Regulation 29/2011, Appendix 2, as recorded in our interest and fees guide on 13 October 2026.

Paying above the minimum but below the full balance sits between the first two rows: interest is charged only on what remains, so a larger payment leaves less to be charged.

If the minimum is hard to keep up

If the minimum payment is already a strain, interest is likely to add to the balance. We do not advise on what to do, but these are the routes the rules and the products allow:

1. Talk to the bank before a payment is missed. Ask what it can offer and get any arrangement in writing.
2. Move the balance. A balance transfer turns the balance into fixed instalments on another bank’s card, with fees and a limit to qualify for.
3. Replace it with a loan. Balance transfer or personal loan compares the costs, limits and credit report effects with a worked example.
4. Get wider help. Our debt guides cover missed payments and dealing with lenders.

Each option has fees and conditions of its own, so compare the total cost, not the instalment. About The Credit Zone explains how we research and why we do not recommend products. More topics are in our credit card guides.