Providian has engaged in what are considered predatory practices, and those who have fallen victim to their sleazier tactics can't say enough bad about them. They've been sued for numerous things like deliberately posting payments late and then assessing late fees, putting unauthorized charges on cards, etc etc Some of us have had good experiences with them getting our credit rebuilding program started, because up until recently they have been very generous with limits. They have always been stingy about lowering rates, and in the past have issued most cards with no grace period. They are teetering on the brink of bk right now, and are under investigation by the SEC for misleading investors. They have become stingy with LOC increases as a result, and the government is regulating their exposure to high risk at this point, so they may not be as easy as they used to be. If they sell off their portfolio, cardholders with balances and nowhere to go could easily be trapped in a really bad situation, like those with X.com accounts that were sold to EMCC, and are now being treated like deadbeats when they were actually in good standing with X.com at the time the account was sold.
providian is a bad company. The reps are rude, and they thrive on price-gouging by: interest rates, credit line increase fees, Dumping/telemarketing lame programs, insane yearly fees, Lack of grace period. They are not as bad as say Centennial card or those others who dump you with $200-300 in fees on a $500 card, but pretty darn close. If its all you can get, and you are happy with the above, then keep it. But don't be suprised..
soup, if you have another card you can transfer to real quick, I would think you'd be okay if they sell that block of business. That's what I am doing. I have a small balance on the PVN MC because they gave me a zero interest deal for a limited time, but I just xferred that balance to my new Blue, and will close the MC as soon as it is zero balance. I just had an anniversary with this card, and they said the limited time zero interest was my reward (it is a trap, not a reward, hehe) - no line increase or lower rate available for me at this time. I am more hesitant to close the Visa with the $7,000 limit, but I probably will as soon as I can replace it. I got Blue to replace the PVN MC and my Associates Visa - they also had nothing for me on my anniversary date. Do not lock yourself in with PVN, with nowhere to go, IMO.
well, my answer would be yes based on my last months experience with them. I've had there Gold card and Smart card for about a year now. Fed up with not getting any credit line increase offers I've been battling with customer service and the executive office to find out a reason why (I have been perfect with both accounts and I think they are basing that on my FICO but will not admit to it). And the kicker is that I got a notice of terms change with my smart card statement today saying that in Feb they are going to change the interest rate to 29.99%. They are going to start offering a grace period but whats with that. They also put in the terms change that it was based on information from Experian so I think that they are doing this to all people with a low FICO score. I'm going to pay them off and put it away. They can be a real pain to deal with.
YES Never late , No Negitives aon credit bureau, they upped intrest to 29.99% from 13.99 !!!!!! Under 700 score your intrest rate may be changed to 29.99% ..........NO GOOD STAY AWAY !!!!! FAR AWAY !!!!!!!
Remeber that scene from Psycho...you know where J.Lee is in the shower and is stabbed to death...there you go...Providian.(AD)"Where we stick it to ya!!! The card that will be your death!!" LOL! Bad product!
Providian is a starter card. After a year or so, upgrade or get conessions from Providian. Know when your payment is due; ie, mine is always due around the 20th of the month. If you don't get a bill, or it is late, you should have an idea of what is due; so send an estimated payment. I pay on line, which costs nothing. But if you don't have a checking account, send in their payment at least seven days before it is due and you will not have a problem with them. I have not had any problems with them. What sucks is that they charge interest on everthing charged, even if full payment was made in the prior month. But now that I have restored my credit, it is time to negotiate a 25 day grace period, or go to another card.
Danger, Will Robinson. Danger! I've never had a Providian Card but just from the (numerous) offers I've gotten from them I can tell that they suck. Also, see other posts from members who reportedly had their rates upped to 29.99% for no apparent reason except 'having a credit score under 700'. Also, some friends of mine had a Providian account go to collections with the evil Gulf State. Avoid with extreme predjudice. -ingenue
I have a Providian Visa. Before I started to rebuild my credit, I would get a couple of Providian offers a month. At first the offers all had annual fees and no grace period and a interest rate of 23.99%. Then the offers changed to no annual fees, no grace period and still 23.99%. Then when I got a offer for no annual fee, 25 day grace and 23.99%, I applied and was approved for a $1000 Visa in March of 2001. A few monthes after I opened the account I got them to lower the interest to a fixed 19.8%. My credit line is now $2250. I have never been mistreated and they have seemed to stop telemarketing me( guess they got tired of hearing NO). I only problem with them is that 19.8 is about 5 points higher then my next most expensive card. As soon as I get the limits up on my other card, they will be history, unless I can get them to lower the APR more. I have tried to get them to drop more, but I get the line that 19.8 "is a good rate for someone building credit". Trevor
The only thing fixed about a CC Rate is they can fix it anyway they want to at any time they want to.
I don't think Providian is a bad company. I had an account with them for 5.5 years. I never had any major problems with account maintenance, payment postings or customer service. The only thing I have a problem with is that after years of positive history, they do not upgrade their customers according to their inside & outside credit record (ie: Platinum). If you start subprime, that is where you will remain no matter how good your credit has become. I also could not even get a grace period on my account. Even through Executive Services. IMO, if you start out subprime with Providian, they will help you establish your credit history, but after you have achieved your goals, you will need to get prime accounts elsewhere. Providian will not upgrade you to a prime account. It's really ashame. They have complained about not having enough prime customers, but they let them go right under their nose. Myself included. I had to close my account because a no grace period, 16.90% interest rate was no longer working for me. Too bad, I really like Providian and would have remained a customer if I had been upgraded to a prime account.
I had Providian's subprime for life gold card until last summer. I opened the account in '96. It was secured with a credit line equal to 150% of the deposit. Then the account was unsecured and the limit grew to 10.5K. I got them to give me a grace period and an APR of 19.8. After that, they wouldn't budge on improving terms. I closed it when they refused to waive the annual fee. Capital One was even worse. My secured card from 1994 was never unsecured. After five years, I closed it. It had reached a CL of 5K but was going no higher. The only subprime card I have left is Orchard. It is at 15.9 and will go no lower. They do waive the annual fee but I have to ask each time. My credit limits with them are $7900 on two cards. I am reluctant to let them go right now but by the summer I will probably not carry these cards anymore. Although these accounts really suck, they did help me to re-establish credit. Even with closing Providian and Cap.1, my limits have grown from 19K to 92K in the past year and a half.
Providian can kiss my ass. I got a Cap1 Kmart card and a Target card and figured my rebuilding would include a low limit Providian card. The denied me. 700+ scores on Experian and Equifax and 690-something from TU. No derogs, no lates, nothing negative at all on any report. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Bupkes. I can't say it strong enough, they can kiss my ass.
If you're in sub-prime territory, simply use a card like Providian as a "tool" to rebuild and move on. There's nothing that says you have to KEEP them and pay those rates etc for the rest of your life! It's not rocket science here. Make that repayment history count and age and you move on, no matter which sub primer you go with. Seems like no matter which sub prime issuer we're talking about, people have good and bad issues with them. If you do a search you'll see that's always the case.
I've had the Providian Gold since June of 2000. Current limit is 6.8k, the APR sucks but with a bk-13 on file this will have to do. I never had a payment posted late or my APR moved. I had a 3 month promo for 9.9%. Compare to Cap 1, Providian has given me the added cl where as Cap 1's has me at 2k (opened in 1996). Best regards, Mirage
