I started late last year with one of those "no credit check, gauranteed approval" credit card offers from Providian. My credit is probably close to the world's worst, because I have a 3 year old bankruptcy and then a bunch of judgements and collections from medical (hospital) bills and a business failure. However, my credit line is now $1700, and I've never had the slightest complaint with Providian's service. Next stage: Does providian report this? And, will it make any difference? I still owe several debtors I won't be able to get paid off for several years. I use my credit card during the month to buy gas and other normal expenses, even pay my bills, and make payments on my debts, then make a very large payment after the first of the next month. This has greatly improved my ability to to be liquid and pay the bills on time - no need to hold onto a large amount of cash until the next payday for those unexpected needs - like a tire when one blows out. What I'd like to do is get away from the high fees of Providian, and get into a better card to use the same way. I'm not attempting to get credit to purchase things with cards, just to provide some positive credit references for the near future when I need a home loan or car loan (can't get either, right now). Any suggestions for other cards or other strategies?
Just curious. Which Providian card do you have? What was your initial credit limint and what sort of interest rate/yearly fees do you pay. TIA for any info. Kirk
Yes, Providian does report, at least to Trans Union. They sent me a credit report this week, and it was free due to a turndown by NextCard. I was surprised that I have a perfect payment record. Two years ago, I skipped monthly payments to Citibank on two separate occasions, not paying them until the next month's bill came. But apparently that didn't count as 30 days late, or whatever their standard was for lateness. So Providian does report, and it's easier to build a perfect payment record than you might think. My suggestion for strategy would be to wait patiently and pay down your providian card. Six months from now, you could be getting very good offers in the mail, and you don't want to be maxed out when they check your credit report.
