Two weeks ago I got a notice from them that said I was going to a variable rate. I called them and explained to them my credit report inaccuracies were due to identity theft. The Providian manager asked me to fax my credit report to him, which I did. Today I got a letter of apology from Providian that reversed their previous decision and reinstated my 16.99 apr! Providian is a class act!
I just thought of something...I wonder if they could have in their programing..."INSTANTLY DENY ALL APPLICATIONS WITH A H/H INCOME >$50,000"???
The one thing I will say in Providian's defense is that they are super fast reporting payments. I have noticed that other companies love to report your (highest) balance after a BT and then wait months (or until you dispute) to show you paid it down. I have a friend with a Providian Platinum who has only had it for less than a year, and the reporting has been exemplary. (Every month, accurately, like clockwork--He paid it off during the 1.9%promotional period, before it went to go-to.)
High income won't disqualify you for a PVN card. I have a very high income and unfortunately a PVN card as well. Long sad story.
They don't want people with clean credit... they want to suck the last dime out of us credit challenged!! No Profit = DENIAL!!
I HAVE THE AUDACITY TO USE CREDIT CARDS TO MY ADVANTAGE!!! That is why I have get so many "PROFIT DENIALS"...
While that used to be true for providian, they are now (with the prodding of federal regulators) moving away from the subprime market. Its amazing 23.9% can't make up for losses. I expect the problem george keeps running into is not so much profit as that most issuers have models which weight total credit already available. That said, by far the worst corporation for what you describe is a bank that folks forget is pure evil...washington mutual. According to wall street WAMU's *business model* is to attract poor people by offering no fee checking because these folks are likely to occasionally overdraw, WAMU encourages this behavior by giving a small overdraft line, and then makes money on ridiculous per item charges.
I've had Providian for Three years now and heres what I have to say... They are without a doubt one of the BEST companies to rebuild with. The give REAL limits and not the toy limits of other SUBPRIME cards. You can't buy a lot of stuff and rebuild to quickly with a $250 card. Providian steadily increases your limits while you are with them. I think this is where Providian got into trouble, along with the decline of the economy. With some of the negative comments out there you are turning lurkers and new members off to one of the best Rebuilding CC's out there. If you are already prime why would you even want a Providian Card?? There's better out there. Even there best terms are not in the "Citi" or "BoFA" league. If you didn't like them because of the terms you had and felt like you desereved better than thats "personal". I've been PFBing about a GRACE for about a year now. Last month I got a Grace, upgraded to Platinum, Increased limit and decreased APR. I understand that I am Still SUBPRIME.. I got my own list of unfavorable subprime cards and they start with the ones with commercials on late night syndicated reruns. I promise I won't whine or chime in with informative one liners like "they suck". When someone post about them. I'm tired of seeing post like this. A year ago you could talk about ANY company even "Orchard" and get good advice on how to "work their system" now if it aint prime a handful of you guys feel that you must chime in with a derogatory statement which throws the thread in another direction. I promise I won't pout and leave Creditnet as others have done in the past but I'd like to see more constructive intelligent criticism and intelligent post.
Not really, I have had their Plat GetSmart Card with 7.99% APR since May of 1999. My CL is now 8000. Although not by highest one of my lowest APRs. Never had one problem.
I also have had no problems with Providian, per se. I just haven't had any luck changing the terms of my agreement with them even though I've been with them for over two years and have always paid my bill on time.
Well, to give my opinion, I didn't have a high opinion of Providian. I had to go through great lengths in order to prove to them that all of my payments were made on time. I found that by using Western Union, I had instant proof that all of my payments were on time. I also forwarded copies of all of my money order receipts to show that I always paid on time. I started and finished with Providian with a 100 dollar limit. I had an APR of 0% that was increased in 12/2001 to 29.9%. They made a hard inquiry on my credit report without my consent. When I called them on it, they responded by changing my CR's from 2 30 day lates, to Open/never late. I then paid the card off, because the card was only good for a year. I called them up to find out if they were going to send me a new card, but all they would tell me was "we are reviewing your account". Finally, I had had enough of them and cancelled my account. The account was already paid off, but one week later, I got a letter from them saying they were going to close my account anyway. Good thing, I called them before that and cancelled it. They are now reporting to the bureaus as, "Closed/never late" Account closed at consumer's request.
I have to agree with FJ. Providian was one of the only cards besides C1 that gave me a chance after ch13. They started me with a 1k limit, and after a year increased it to 2k, and also gave me a second card 2.5k. Once I began to get higher limits and better rates on other cards, I closed my second card and retention pursuaded me to keep my first card open by boosting my limit to 5k with a 15.9apr. They also waived the annual fee each year. I still have the card after 4 years, even though I haven't used it for months. Bottom line, pay your bills on time, don't run up the balance too high, and they'll be good to you. This is true for just about every subprime or prime card.
