I have noticed over the past few days, that people have been having troubles with providian, let me share my experience. In Oct 99, I applied for a providian classic account, was approved for a 500 limit, In feb 00, My limit was increased to 1500. Then I took advantage of their roadside program, which gave me $200 increase, just today, I asked them to lower my APR and raise my limit, b/c I was going on vacation next week, and needed some more credit, just in case I saw someting I wanted...well they told me they'd know the answer to the credit increase by Saturday, and they IMMEDIATLY lowered my APR from 23.99, to 18.9, I checked tonight with their automated system, and my increase was there, for $1000. I have nothing but nice things to say about providian, because my credit is horrible, with 25 charge offs...and a judgement...The number you can call to talk to someone WHO CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE is....1-800-388-5941, this is for CLASSIC as well as PLATINUM cardholders...good luck
I hope it isn't just Providian employees reporting all these good experiences, since I'm counting on similar good thigs happening in my case. It was the hope of limit increases without fees, a gold card upgrade, a lower annual fee, and a lower interest rate that persuaded me to keep my Providian card for another year. All these things have been reported on this message board within the last month. That being said, I think we all need to be very careful about Providian cards. The late posting issue could revive at any time. If it happens again, anyone who is near their credit limit could get hit not only with bogus late fees, but with overlimit fees. With the high costs of Providian credit, we have even more reason not to approach our credit limits. It could prove impossible to pay off a large debt to Providian, since most of our payments would go for interest and fees. I hope that no one ever relies on Providian as their sole source of credit. Just like an abusive spouse, they try to isolate you from the real world of other people (and other credit cards.) You may need them to raise your credit limit a few times so you look respectable to other banks, but then you should let competition take over.
RE: Providian, -> has been I started 8 months ago with a 500 credit line, which is now 1700. They have processed my payments immediately, and given me no trouble, other than I have never been able to get my 1st statement. It never arrived and a call to get it resulted in nothing. Everything else has been immediate and done exceptionally well. However, I'm still nervous. I still send my payments in with the tracking USPS offers.
