Keep or close?

[Anonymous]

I know that it negatively dings your credit when you close a credit card but I don't think that paying $79 to keep my First Premier Bank card open once paid off is worth it. Or is it? The CL is low (under $1K) and interest high. The account is my 2nd youngest if that weighs much.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I know that it negatively dings your credit when you close a credit card but I don't think that paying $79 to keep my First Premier Bank card open once paid off is worth it. Or is it? The CL is low (under $1K) and interest high. The account is my 2nd youngest if that weighs much.

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Close it.  Not worth it and closing a card does not negatively affect your score unless your utilization suffers which in this case ,because of the low limit on the card, is unlikely.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I know that it negatively dings your credit when you close a credit card but I don't think that paying $79 to keep my First Premier Bank card open once paid off is worth it. Or is it? The CL is low (under $1K) and interest high. The account is my 2nd youngest if that weighs much.

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If you mean that all consumers take a hit for closing a card, regardless of what their profile looks like, this is definitely not true.  If you already have a few cards, and if closing it doesn't cause your utilization to go up, then it shouldn't ding your score.  Even if the closure caused your utilization to double (from 3% to 6% say) it still would probably not affect a person's score if his util was still under 9%.

But of course your idea to drop a card that charges you a fee for using it certainly sounds wise.  You just have to look at your own situation.  How many other no-fee cards do you have?  One?  Two?  If you already have a couple other cards then maybe it's time.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I know that it negatively dings your credit when you close a credit card 

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Depends on one's profile and the specifics of the card being closed.  See also the Closing Credit Cards thread linked in the Helpful Threads sticky in the Credit Cards subforum.

You can do the before-and-after math to determine the impact closing that card would have on your revolving utilization.

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@Anonymous wrote:
The account is my 2nd youngest if that weighs much.

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Length of Credit Histroy is typically about 15%.

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

As indicated in the thread I mentioned above, AAoA is not immediately impacted by account closure.  Closed accounts on your reports continue to factor into AAoA.

As stated above there are some other things you may want to consider such as the number of cards that you have.  If you're not at the generally suggested 2-3 or more then you may want to wait until you have at least 2-3 cards left after you close this one.

[B335is]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I know that it negatively dings your credit when you close a credit card but I don't think that paying $79 to keep my First Premier Bank card open once paid off is worth it. Or is it? The CL is low (under $1K) and interest high. The account is my 2nd youngest if that weighs much.

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What other cards do you have?  I can't think of any negatives for closing that card. Most Lenders understand First Premier isn't a long-term card.