I need some advice! I know Aria and Providian are the same company. However, they are not the same card. I applied on-line for an Aria card. The immediate message said something like "we can't make a decision at this time and a letter is forthcoming". I later called them and rep said I was declined and the letter would explain why. So I then called Providian and applied with over the phone. They approved me for a secured Gold Visa with a $100 minimal deposit and a dollar for dollar credit limit. Total limit increases can't exceed $1000 for 1st year. Well today I called Aria because I never received their letter of decline. The rep said I was declined because I was approved for Providian and I can't have 2 cards. She said that the decline occured for no other reason and told me to call and cancel Providian. Then I should write Aria telling them I cancelled Providian and want the Aria. She said that she couldn't guarantee my approval but saw no reason why I couldn't get the Aria. Now tell me which is better for credit increases?...for APR?...for initial limit?...for customer service? Is it worth me chancing a slim possibility of being denied for Aria? Should I take the Providian and be satisfied?
RE: HELP! Which is better? Ari After reading everything on www.consumeraffairs.com I would stay away from Providian all together. I told a friend the other day how they post payments late to your account and he said he knew what I meant because it happens to his wifes card as of a few months ago and they are trying to pay the card off and keep getting hit with late charges even though they mailed there payments a week before the due dates.
RE: HELP! Which is better? Ari In my experience with online applications, those "We can't make a decision right now," or, "We need extra time for some off-line processing of this application," type of messages are a "nice" way of saying that you have been turned down. I am guessing that the rep who said you were turned down to due a previous approval didn't really understand the whole situation. They probably just looked at their file on you, saw the recent Providian approval, and just assumend that was reason for the Aria turn-down. The difference between the regular Providian and Aria cards is the general marketing emphasis towards the "sub-prime" vs. "prime" markets, respectively. There is also apparantly some difference in the ability to access the account online (perhaps that is only available with Aria???) If I had damaged credit, I would just be patient, take the regular Providian, and start working my way up. Good Luck. -- CardReport.Com - Credit Tools, News, And Reference http://www.cardreport.com/ Everything You Need To Know About Credit And Debt --
RE: HELP! Which is better? Ari Yes I agree. Providian has given me no problems with my account. I have their platinum card. I never have any problems with payments posting, or getting delayed. They do take pay by phone also. I pay my bill through my banks online bill pay service. It's great, and they post it the next day or so to my account. You might want to consider doing that if your bank offers that option, it eliminates the possibility of getting lost or held up in the mail. Otherwise my advice would be to mail at least ten days before your due date to ensure timely arrival.
RE: HELP! Which is better? Ari Stormie that was wonderfully said, I have the regular "blue" card, dont know much about aria. My card has gone from a limit of 500 dollars in june of 1999 to 3199.00 right now. I called one night a couple of weeks ago after seeing a post here and ask for a lower intrest rate and for them to waive my annual fee, as I had an "offer" elsewhere. To make a long story short, they lowered my rate to 16.9% and waived my annual fee next year, they also went back a month and refunded 30 dollars on the annual fee I paid last month! If this company will continue to treat me {a person that went to them with bad credit} the way they have so far, I personally will be a customer for life.
RE: HELP! Which is better? Ari Thats terrific ! I'm sure everyone will be glad to here you were successful. Perhaps more customers ought to try just that. It couldn't hurt , and you could walk away with a considerably lower interest rate , and no annual fee. Thats always great, guess they value you as a customer Congrats to you.
Stay with Providian Stormie is right. Keep the Providian Visa and make your payments early. I usually make my Providian payments the day after I get my statement. The Providian card is best suited for establishing a credit record, not for long-term credit, so be careful not to spend more than you can pay back quickly.
RE: HELP! Which is better? Ari Providian has been very good to me, lowered the interest rate, always given good and REGULAR increases, some with fees and some without. Up to a Gold card now with 6000 limit and it has only been two years. They have a new on line site for account info and paying on line www.providianonline.com. Just like anyine else, you pay on time and some over they will treat you right, mess up and you can only blame yourself not the cc company
