A month ago I received an invite to apply for a Providian Clear card. I hemmed and hawed, but decided another post BK tradeline might be worth the try. In the mail today I received a letter from Providian. The letter stated: "Dear DLO64, Thank you for replying to our invitation for credit. We regret that we are unable to open an account for your at this time because our invitation is only available to the person to whom we intended to solicit. We would like to emphasize that this does not mean that you do not have good credit or that another lender would not open a credit account for you. For your privacy, our decision will not be reported to the credit agencies and will remain confidential. Sincerely, Credit Manager" The only thing is the offer was solicited to me. One of my creditors originally opened my account with my first name mis-spelled. The application clearly (no pun intended, Providian) states to correct the name and address if incorrect and that is exactly what I did. I corrected my first name mis-spelled "Wie" to the correct spelling of "Debbie." Everything else is correct. Never received a denial quite like that one. I will take this to mean even though I am sub-prime, I am not meant to have their card and are probably better off without them. I did have Providian a long time ago (card closed by me and was in good standing the whole time I had it). I guess they truly do not want the .02 check they sent me a couple of weeks ago! LOL By the way, I still have that check. I meant to sneak it in with my tax relief check, but forgot. Well, hubby gets paid this week so maybe I will sneak it in then! I do have 5 1/2 more months before it is no longer valid.
Dlo64, Sorry you didn't get the card. But, as you probably know, I'm not a fan of Providian's. Your credit will continue to improve without them and you're probably better off without their card anyway. If they can't get your name straight now, what would service be like later. Just wait; you'll get a better offer. Donna
Thanks for your words of encouragement, Donna. I talked to my CU today about their credit cards and was told because of the BK I would have to go the secured route with them. The good side is the rate is not bad for a secured card - 15% with a $25 annual fee. The CU will review your account after a year and if the account is in good standing, they will convert it to a Classic card. The interest rate for that card is currently 13% with no annual fee. I don't think that is too shabby to start with only a year post BK. I'm not going to complain. From Providian's letter, I don't think they ran an inquiry (of course I will keep an eye open and dispute if I find differently).
