Providian Credit Card
From LoveToKnow Creditcards
Providian credit cards made a name for itself by providing credit to people who were normally turned away from other companies, either because of low income or a poor credit history. The company was founded in the 1980s but went through legal problems in the late 1990s due to unethical business practices. In 2005, it was purchased by Washington Mutual, a large financial organization that had previously focused on home loans, commercial real estate, and retail banking. Providian retained its name and has been on solid footing ever since.
Types of Providian Bank Credit Cards
Providian bank credit cards, based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, has several different credit card offers to choose from for people of all credit backgrounds.
Basic Card
The Providian Visa Platinum Card is great card with several options for consumers. Credit lines go up to $15,000 and the card carries no annual fee. New accounts are eligible for no APR on balance transfers for the first twelve months if you transfer the balance when you open the account. Consumers can also get cash advances from their card and are not liable for fraudulent charges.
This Providian credit card also lets you express yourself. Applicants can choose from five different card designs, including the America flag, a bald eagle, or Mount Rushmore. The Visa Platinum Card is the main card offered by Providian, but it has different but it has several different options and credit limits available to meet customer’s needs.
Partner Cards
Providian credit cards have several partner organizations that provide cardholders with a means of supporting their favorite group or earning rewards. These include:
- The Human Rights Campaign Visa. Part of every purchase cardholders make helps support the HRC, which supports equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.
- HSN Rewards Visa. This card lets Home Shopping Network enthusiasts earn $10 merchandise credits at HSN for every $1,000 they spend with the card.
- Democratic Party Visa. Consumers using this card earn back one percent on all their purchases. That one percent can then be donated to the Democratic Party.
- North American Membership Group Visa. Members of groups like the National Home Gardening Club, the Creative Home Arts Club, and the North American Fishing club earn discounts on their dues and a percentage off club merchandise with this card.
Providian Gift Cards
Providian credit card customers can purchase Providian gift cards for their family and friends. These gifts cards can be used at any business that accepts Visa, so it’s a great way to make sure loved ones get exactly what they want. And, unlike gift cards issued by retail stores, the person using the card doesn’t have to shop at only one place. The possibilities for using it are endless. Gift cards cost $5.95 plus the amount of the gift, so if you wanted to give someone a $25 Providian gift card, your charge would be $30.95. Express delivery for an extra $25 can also be used for last-minute gift giving.
Gift cards can be ordered with amounts of up to $530 and come in a variety of designs to personalize the card. A short message from the sender will be printed on the gift card, along with the name of the person receiving it.
Only Providian cardholders can order these gift cards, making it an exclusive benefit for consumers.
Providian Credit Card Extras
Like most credit card companies, Providian offers a rewards plan that earns cardholders cash back or points that can be redeemed for merchandise or travel discounts. But, unlike most companies, Providian also recognizes consumers who pay on time and make regular purchases with the card. The reward program can even be used to reduce the interest rate on the card. The company also lets cardholders view their FICO scores and receive restaurant and store coupons.
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Comments
Jeff,
You can always report what you think are unfair business practices to your state's consumer protection agency. Their contact information is available on your state's website. To make a claim you should have a letter from Providian detailing what they have done and the reason.
You might also want to contact a non-profit consumer counseling agency in your area to discuss your specific problem.
Thank you for taking the time to detail your comment.
-- Contributed by: SusanWeberI was looking for any information regarding the unethial business practice that this page speaks of in regards to Providian. I have two Providian cards currently and recently have been daling ith what seems like an attack against me. I recently had to short sale a 2nd mortgaged home I got stuck with due to rentors and the market. Durign the process I was forced to not pay my 2nd mortgage to get the mitigation process rolling and to allow for a short sale of the home. Because of this, Providian has not only lowered my Credit Balance(which was fine except they brought the ceiling to where my current balance was). and then they jacked my interest from 17%(a rate I had to fight for weeks before, even though my other cards run around 11% on avg.) to 31%. We questioned the reasoning and because we had used a lot of credit to try and keep this 2nd mortgage going while trying to find rentors, our credit deemed "questionable" to Providian. So they lower my limit and jack my interest up??? Wow! How happy I was to know I had a partner in the financial world to help me out of this problem. The answer to our questions about the high rate was that we close the account if we wnated to get out 17% back (which is an outrageous rate to begin with...thanks again partner!) So we did.... NOW, my payment is $200.00 more a month.... man, what a great team we are. Here I am, having never missed one payment, being strong armed by a company I have over 20K in business with. Well...no worries..you'll get the money and he business. Does anyone know of an agency or soemeone you can talk to or report this type of business?? It ust doesn;t seem right... I'm being beaten by a company I have done nothing wrong to... they just simply choose to make my life harder b/c they want their money NOW I guess. Providian will never regain my trust and from this point on, actually since they jacked me to 31%, I am now a crusader against them.
-- Contributed by: Jeff yancey - margaritamafioso@yahoo.comThis page has been accessed 3,693 times. This page was last modified 16:39, 1 September 2008.
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