I love having this card. They've given me a chance to build my credit and so far, I haven't had any problems with them. I haven'yt even received my first bill yet, but I have already sent in a payment which was posted to my account a few days ago. I will NOT screw up my credit after everything I've heard and all the problems I've had w/ the credit bureaus. Thank you Providian for giving me a second chance!!
RE: Providian Gold... so far, I'm curious how much of a credit limit they gave you? With my horrible credit they gave me a limit of $300 but after a month of having the card they approved me for the Aria card with a $500 limit.
RE: Providian Gold... so far, I initially responded to a solicitation (at the time, I only had about 6 months of credit history in the U.S. but at least it was all positive history) and received a $500 Visa. A couple of months later, I was offered a $200 credit line increase. A few months after that I was offered another $1,000 (with a $99 fee). Somewhere along the line I have had a couple of other small credit limit increases and my total line is now almost $2000 after being with them for almost exactly 12 months. I'm guessing they might offer me another increase in January. The key to getting credit line increases from Providian appears to be taking out any optional plans they offer, e.g. credit protection, health discount program, etc. These are expensive but they come with built-in line increases. Providian then seems to follow up on your enrollment in such programs with an offer of another line increase (with a fee attached). It's not a cheap option, but they are a very well-known bank and most importantly they don't screw you around like many other "repair credit" type CC banks. I consider Providian to be perfect for my type of situation - new US resident with good cash flow but no credit history. I regard the interest and fees as being a necessary and acceptable cost of building a positive credit history. (Of course, once I HAVE a thicker history, I will dump their card product unless they offer me a better deal). Providian might not be quite so good for someone who has cash-flow problems, as it's easy to get into debt just with the fees and "add-on options" like insurance. But I suppose the same comment can be made of any credit card, really.
RE: Providian Gold... so far, They gave me a $500 limit. I have one paid collections (hospital bill) and a shared account w/ my bf that was charged off (we never received the card/repair kit and are working to have this removed)on my report. I also have a TON of inquiries.Besides that, I have never had any credit. The thing is, Providian sent this offer to my dad's house in Orlando, FL. I was living there temporarily. I currently live in San Francisco, so it was forwarded to me. I accepted the offer and just changed my address. Maybe it depends on where you live, because they have never offered me anything while living in SF before.
RE: Providian Gold... so far, Actually, you dont have to have all of the add-ons such as insurance, credit protection, etc. Just pay you bill more (much more than the monthly payment and you will be fine). I went from $500 to $1800 in 6 months. With tons of collections because of student loans.
