Question - I got a Providian card recently. Did not use it yet. Came with a 16.99 variable APR (11.49% plus prime), $2000 limit. I replied to a mail solicitation on 12/17/01. Since that time, I was surprisingly approved for a Citi card (possibly 2, not sure yet) and have at least a $9,000 limit with Citi. I have a few other cards which combined is 2 store, 1 gas, 3 Visas with a CL of $6800, which I know isn't all that much for 6 cards. But after reading all the nasty stuff about Providian, I don't really see a reason to keep the card. I know if I close the account I'll be out an inquiry, but that seems like a small price to pay not to have to deal with Providian. So my question is this - if I close right now, do you think it will even show up on my report? And if it does, will closing an account that is less than 1 month old with no activity screw up my score??? Or is leaving the account open my best bet because of ratios??? Thoughts?
Close it. A 2K CL is not going to have that much impact on your ratios considering that you have 15.8K already. You've already taken a hit for the inquiry. Closing it is not likely to cause you harm and any consequential drop in the score will be negligible and temporary. You could ask Providian to remove the line if it does appear on your report. I can't think of any good reason they would refuse.
