Old Credit Cards with New Annual Membership Fees

[mackie]

I have been trying to improve my credits for years now but two of my oldest credit cards namely capital one and Merrick bank both opened in 2004 are now charging me an annual membership fee of about 79 dollars yearly. The credit limit on both cards is inconveniently small and the interest rate in the 20% range.

While I no longer use these cards, I simply have been paying the membership fee in order to maintain the credit history on them. All my newer cards are 2005 and above, my score is about 690 with a nine year old public record I wish I can remove but was told to wait 10. Do you recommend keeping these two cards or can I close them with limited damage to score and save that money for my kids. The total credit on both cards is about 3000.00 which is about 15% of my total credit.

[salamanda]

Glad you asked this question. I have a similar issue with B of A. Also, (if mackie does not mind me adding a question to the list), if anyone has good suggestions for convincing them to postpone or cancel the initiation of the new fee, that would also be great to hear. I'm checking the archives for some suggestions now.

[llecs]

Be sure to read fused's Closing Credit Cards .

There's nothing wrong with closing a card. In the short term, that card will continue to contribute to your overall history for the next 10 years. So, as long as you aren't going to add lots of new credit between now and then, then you are OK. Util can be impacted, but as long as your balances are in check on your other cards, then you are OK there too. Finally, if you have other CCs, then you are OK too.