Hi all, I was reading a thread on the MF Board and someone mentioned trying to get a BT teaser rate from Providian. I've never heard of any balance transfer offer from Providian. Has anyone here ever received one? Thanks,
I specifically asked Providian if they did balance transfers last month and they said no. Of course they say they don't offer grace periods or interest rates under 16.9% too.
Thanks, Dave. That's what I thought. I just called retention and he offered me convenience checks when I asked about a BT offer (!). I told him there was no way I'd pay 19.8% APR for a cash advance check. I think Providian is very predatory. It doesn't even seem to try to serve the prime market.
The last time I looked at the Providian webite, they advertised a gold card that is above the normal gold card but less than Platinum. The sole difference between these 2 types of gold card is the ability to do one (1) BT. I am meeting with a student in a moment so I didn't have time to re-check the website and verify my facts here. But I doubt anything has changed.
Their website does say something about a "Gold Premier" card. I've never asked them about it because I'd like to go to Platinum instead when they get their systems changed.
In January they gave me gold premier. I had a 3400, limit at the time. I was given up to 60 days to do balance transfers up to 3000. Every dollar transferred increased my limit a dollar. Plus I was given a 1000. increase on the spot. I transferred the 3k to the card and paid it off right away. My limit is now 7600. This all occurred when my account was 13 months old. The apr is 16.9 with a grace period. The apr for cash is something like 23.9. I have not gotten any sort of limit increase since that time.
I was on the phone to Providian a few months ago complaining about my 19.8 APR and mentioned pretty much as an aside that I thought the 5% cash advance transaction fee was too high. A few weeks later, I received a blank check for a cash advance for any amount up to my available credit without a transaction fee. Even though this is an unappealing offer (I never wanted to take a cash advance and wouldn't do it at this rate), I thought it was interesting that they were willing to waive the fee.
I have a "Providian Visa Gold" card. My limit is only $3000, and my APR is 24.9%. So much for "gold." Perhaps the invocation of that precious alloy really only symbolizes their profit at my expense. Anyway I'm going to call and pester them for the 16.9% rate tomorrow. Thanks for the info. Randy
From my understanding, they typically offer BT to their Platinum cardholders(even though...after reading some threads...that is obviously NOT the case). I guess it depends on what they think will get you. Peace, Sister Girl
