Anyone have low % with Providian. I am going to pay them off and I am wondering if they might return me to my interest rate of 16%. I have read here the reason they were jacking people around is those that had high balances were now considered high risk, and so they raised the interest in them. If not I'll never be using them again! Thanks again!
I don't think that they will budge on that. I have two cards with them. One is closed because they would not come down on the APR and the other is still open because it has 0 balance. However, it does have 16.9% apr for the moment. I was carrying a pretty high balance on that one, but when I saw what they did to the other card, I quickly paid it off. The limit was 5000.00 and I was using about 90% of that. Now that it is 0, I will keep it open, and close it before they charge me the annual fee.
I don't think they will come down either. They have been real jerks when I called. I had an account that had 0 percent interest for six months, then got a letter that after the six months, it was going up to 23 percent because i was close to my measly 500 dollar limit. I told them i would close my account and pay it off at my leasure if they did lower the APR. They refused, so now I owe like 370 bucks, i pay 20 bucks a month, but still have the APR at 0 percent since I closed it before they raised the rate.
marcy1973, You mean that if you have a 0% or a very low rate, then the rates are increased and ask to have the account closed with a balance on it, that the original low interest will be charged no matter how long it takes you to pay it off? I thought they could demand payment in-full if you request to close the account with a balance on it. That is interesting - are you sure they won't put a negative ticky mark on your CR?
they have not put anything negative on my credit report...any time you disagree with a change in your credit agreement, you have the right to close your account BEFORE it goes into affect. So, it is always good to read the fine print with every billing you receive. I closed my account BEFORE the new APR went into affect. And it was no problem at all...they also won't continue to charge an annual fee...however, look at your original credit agreement, some card companies will charge a monthly maintence fee of around, from my experience three to five dollars until your account is paid off. They can continue to charge whatever your APR was when you closed the account in addition to that fee. As far as I know, Providian does not charge that fee. I know Orchard Bank and Household Bank do. I have had my Providian account closed now for at least 5 months, and nothing neg has gone on my report, they have just reported it as closed by consumer.
I talked to Providian today and was informed their Platinum cards include fixed rates lower than my current rate of 16.99.
As I wrote in another thread about Providian. PFB will probably get you nowhere fast. It seems that Providian is now trying to off-load some customers and trying to make the most it can off of the others. I did get a 3 month teaser 9.99% with my platinum last month out of the blue but I don't think there honering request for lower APR anymore.
Providian sucks. I have a good limit but their interest rate is outrageous and there is no credit for the excellent payments I've made. So, they are destined to line my drawers (not the kind you wear, the kind in the dresser, lol). I'll be working to pay them off, will take me some time, and I'll store them. And, next year, when my BK is officially gone, I'll enjoy telling 'em where to put the card in THEIR DRAWERS! And, yes, I mean the wearable kind!
I tried and was told "wouldn't be fair to everyone else, it's based on your original application" so in other words good customers mean nothing to them...can't wait til november (anniversary month) to close my account....their customer service dept. is useless.
Let's have a cancelling Providian party! ::::do the limbo:::::::: LOL...I'm with you! What a stupid policy!
My Providian Plat Get Smart has a fixed 7.99 APR on purchases. I called them last week and was told it is the lowest rate they have and it would remain as long as I continue to maintain my account "correctly" They said the rate of the Plat now is 9.99. H
Big H....that's great, I assume you started their, what's so disappointing about Providian is that they advertise to help restore credit...but even if you do everything right....they still look at where you came from....no use to me because I unfortunately started their in subprime.
Cool.... I discovered some really good news! I'll be paying these people off in one month. Yes, adios, goodbye... They can kiss my 23% (YES, I said 23% interest rate). Now, deciding whether to just toss it in the drawer or close it....decisions, decisions. Telling them I'm closing would be so much fun! I have 9.9% with Cap 1 and these idiots honestly think I'd keep using them...ugh... OK...I am SOOOOOOOO looking forward to this.... Now, I'm taking votes...drawer or close? close or drawer? Drawers or Clothes? Clothes or Drawers? sorry...get carried away with the magic of the moment....
Bizarre thing happened to me with Providian the other day. Used card to check into a hotel and it was declined. Perplexed, used another card and then called them. They had a block on my account and immediately lifted it but wanted to know my income. I told them and today, my limit was raised. If they wanted to know how much I made, couldn't they just call me?
NanaC, We had the same decision to make and decided to keep it open and sock drawer it. Our decision was based on the age of the account which is now 3.5 years (older than our average age). The credit line is also $7600 which helps for ratios. The limit isn't as high as our best lines, but it's still not too bad. Since we paid it off and put it away, we've used it twice for a couple of high dollar business related transactions and paid the balance in full. It was just a place to float the transaction for a little less than two months because the charges were made just after the close of the statement. We've decided to use them to OUR advantage. As much as we are dying to call and tell them we're closing it because they are such JERKS to their customers we decided that for us, keeping it around is what's really in our best interests. By the way, we also have an Aria which has no grace period and has been sitting completely idle for 7 months now. DemPooches
I got my Providian gold card in January 2001. The rate was and is 23.99%. I called to have it reduced and they said no. I generally don't carry a balance and I move about $500 through the card every month.
