Advice on closing my oldest credit card

[Anonymous]

Hello, I needed a little bit of advice on whether or not I should close my oldest credit card.

I'm 23 years old, my oldest credit card is 5 years old. It's from 1st Financial Bank. It never had an AF and has been good to me throughout the years. However, they recently just sent me a notice saying in January that I will now be charged an annual fee of 25 "due to changes in federal law". My FICO's are in the Low 700's, utilization is at 3%, and I really don't use this card anymore as in the past couple months I got a Citi Platinum Select, Discover More, and Amex Zync.

I know I've always been told it's bad to close your oldest credit card but I really don't want to be stuck with a AF card when I have much better options. Will closing this account really hurt my credit?

[Wolf3]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello, I needed a little bit of advice on whether or not I should close my oldest credit card.

I'm 23 years old, my oldest credit card is 5 years old. It's from 1st Financial Bank. It never had an AF and has been good to me throughout the years. However, they recently just sent me a notice saying in January that I will now be charged an annual fee of 25 "due to changes in federal law". My FICO's are in the Low 700's, utilization is at 3%, and I really don't use this card anymore as in the past couple months I got a Citi Platinum Select, Discover More, and Amex Zync.

I know I've always been told it's bad to close your oldest credit card but I really don't want to be stuck with a AF card when I have much better options. Will closing this account really hurt my credit?

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I would close the card because they are lying about the "federal law" more so than the $25.   The account will stay on CR for 10 years and by then you will have several cards over 10 years so it won't matter much. 

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello, I needed a little bit of advice on whether or not I should close my oldest credit card.

I'm 23 years old, my oldest credit card is 5 years old. It's from 1st Financial Bank. It never had an AF and has been good to me throughout the years. However, they recently just sent me a notice saying in January that I will now be charged an annual fee of 25 "due to changes in federal law". My FICO's are in the Low 700's, utilization is at 3%, and I really don't use this card anymore as in the past couple months I got a Citi Platinum Select, Discover More, and Amex Zync.

I know I've always been told it's bad to close your oldest credit card but I really don't want to be stuck with a AF card when I have much better options. Will closing this account really hurt my credit?

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Closing a card with a zero balance will not hurt your score short term. As Wol3 said this account will continue to report for up to 10 years after closing. Here is a thread talking about Closing Credit Cards.

ETA: Call them up and ask which part of the federal law requires them to charge this AF. Make them be specific and watch them stumble all over themselves trying to come up with something. 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[Anonymous]

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@MarineVietVet wrote:

ETA: Call them up and ask which part of the federal law requires them to charge this AF. Make them be specific and watch them stumble all over themselves trying to come up with something. 

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In my experience, they are trained to tell you the greatest nonsense without any stumbling involved at all. They might even tell you that you are wrong and don't know the law, so it might end up more aggravating than anything else.

Nevertheless, I would ask to get this fee reverted, and if they don't do it, to close the card. It's only 10 years later that this history will get lost, and at that time, there will be other stuff to keep the age up.

[laz98]

we have the same card, & they gave us the chance to opt out of it.  of course, i forgot to do it, but i don't mind paying the fee, since it's our highest limit card, & one of the oldest.  they have been very generous with us.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the responses. I'm gonna call them up and just say if the AF is not removed, I'll close the card. I definitely don't need it and I have about 8 other credit cards with higher limits and better rewards.