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Here is some context, I’m trying to rebuild my credit. I own a House, I’m financing a car and I have 14 credit cards, 4 of the 14 have been paid off within the past 2 months and have a $0 balance the other 10 on average have 88% of the balance utilized so roughly 12% available credit.

I have a First Premier Bank Credit Card, it’s my oldest CC and smallest with only a $425.00. I recently paid off the balance in an effort to get rid of all my CC debt by paying off the small ones first and working my way up, but, the FPB cc has a $6.00 monthly maintenance fee and $45 yearly fee which equals out to $117 a year to have a card I don’t use. I called up FPB and asked them to wave the fees and they would only wave the yearly fee, so that still leaves me with $72 a year for a card that I don’t use. If closing it would affect my credit negatively I will just leave it open, but if it won’t make a difference then I’ll just close it.

What should I do?

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  • How much older is this card vs. your second oldest card?
    – Brian David Berman
    Mar 23, 2011 at 14:58
  • Roughly, a year.
    – Stefano D
    Mar 23, 2011 at 15:01

2 Answers 2

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Close the account. The age doesn't outweigh the fact that you have to pay for the card. It would be one thing if the credit line was a couple thousand but showing the credit bureaus that you are staying away from the $425.00 doesn't really make them think you are any more trustworthy with your available credit. Utilization matters when you are staying away from much larger chunks of your available credit (across all cards).

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    +1 - the bottom line is the fee. You should not pay an annual fee for a credit card in the wide majority of cases.
    – MrChrister
    Mar 23, 2011 at 15:59
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First off, congratulations on taking care of your finances and paying off your cards! Takes a lot of discipline.

If your next oldest card is just a year apart, you can safely close this card.

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  • Do you have any reference or link for your year apart rule? I haven't heard that fact before.
    – Alex B
    Mar 23, 2011 at 16:31
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    I'm guessing that he means it will have a small impact on his average age of lines (since he has so many open accounts). Taking off 12 months / 14 cards means his average age will only look a month or so "newer".
    – Scott
    Mar 23, 2011 at 16:48

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