Q. Unfortunately, I have had the First Premier Bank Card for a year prior to reading your article about secured credit cards and FPB's excessive fees. I plan to pay off the card within a month and close the account. But won't this hurt my credit score?

A. The most widely used credit scoring system was created nearly 50 years ago by Fair Isaac Corp. Your score is calculated using 22 different variables from your credit history. One of those variables is how much of your available credit you've used.

So yes, if you close a credit card account that has no balance, you could lower your ratio of available-to-used-credit and hurt your FICO score. It's generally known that FICO rewards consumers who use no more than about 50% of their available credit. But it's impossible to tell how much a higher percentage might hurt your score because the exact formula is a closely guarded secret.

In your case, it's probably worth having a few points shaved off your credit score to stop paying FPB's high fees. You didn't say how much you owe on your FPB card, but if you can pay it off within a month, then do it and close the account. That's especially true if your hefty annual fee is coming due.