I just closed my Getsmart Visa account, because Providian arbitrarily changed my terms of service for no good reason and increased my interest rate to 29.99%. So in order to keep my existing terms, I was told that I had to close out the account. This happened despite an excellent payment history and improving my credit scores. I have heard that Providan is in financial trouble and is moving away from the sub-prime market. Anyway, I still have an outstanding balance on the account, but Providian says I can keep making my normal monthly payments, as usual, even though I closed the account. Can anyone tell me how having an outstanding balance on a closed account will affect my credit score? Calmest_LA
You NEVER know about F.I.C.O. so you MAY lose points...gain points...maybe nothing. I paid a few accounts off at the OLD rate, and they FROZE the account. LET ME SEE...DO THE MATH...you have an account that they make interest of say $30.00/month...THEN THEY "JACK" YOU...you pay it sooner than you would since they just JACKED YOU, and you can't charge anything new!!! Say you pay it off in 5 months...they made about $150.00...BUT IF THEY LEFT THE TERMS THE SAME YOU WOULD HAVE MADE THEM OVER $1,000 IN THREE YEARS... THEY "JACKED" THEMSELVES OUT OF A BUNCH OF MONEY!!!
