Closing a credit card with no debt to avoid annual fee

Question

I have a credit card through my bank (in the US), which I've had for several years. I spent the last year outside of the US, so I got a second credit card from my bank - one with an annual fee (waived for the first year) which has no fee for international currency exchanges. Now that I'm back in the US, theoretically I'd like to cancel this credit card and avoid paying the annual fee when the full year is up.

I don't have any debt - I've paid both of the credit cards in full every month. The second credit card was purely for the utility of international currency, which is not a concern at all (and won't be any time in the near future). I will not be applying for any additional credit cards, the original card is fine now that I'm staying domestic.

I've read a bunch of related answers that don't quite answer my question - specifically, the accepted answer on this question goes into the most detail - Closing a credit card with an annual fee without hurting credit score?. It states, "Reducing your available credit will make your current debt look bigger...", but I'm not sure if that applies, because I have no debt to begin with.

If necessary, the fee is low enough that I'm comfortable paying it for a few years, if that helps avoid any damage to my credit score. So, should I close the card?

It depends on the bank but many times you can do a product change to an alternative card at the same bank with no annual fee. — quid, Jul 26 '16 at 01:05
I'd close it. Under normal circumstances, it really isn't worth letting the credit-rating tail wag the financial dog. — keshlam, Jul 26 '16 at 01:07
A portion of your credit score is based on the ratio of debt to available credit. You could ask the bank of the card you are keeping to increase your limit and that would keep the ratio roughly the same while allowing you to close the card you don't want. — homer150mw, Jul 26 '16 at 13:13

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 26 '16 at 01:07

9

You should. The impact on the credit score is small, and probably not worth the money of the annual fee.

I would only change that if you plan to get a mortgage or car loan the next month - then wait until afterwards.

answered Jul 26 '16 at 01:07

Aganju

37,683
7
57
119

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 26 '16 at 21:54

0

Credit scores are designed to reflect your ability to make payments on time. As long as you're not closing your old credit card account, you will only see a minimal impact on your score.

See estimated credit score breakdowns below:

answered Jul 26 '16 at 21:54

timato

111
3

Closing a credit card with no debt to avoid annual fee

2 Answers2