Visa Classic (Providian Bank)

Pros: Great for those re-building credit
Cons: Yearly fee, high % rate

Many people across the land enter the unfortunate situation of having bad credit at some point in their life, and I like those before me struggled to make ends meet. A few years back when credit card companies were turning me down left and right, I came...

Pros: Easy to get approved. This is the only plus!
Cons: Totally deceptive practices. HIGH INTEREST RATES!!! No rewards for good credit with them!

Providian will lure you into their trap any way they know how. This is particularly true if you have blemished credit! They will give a card to anyone with a pulse. And, they will start with a generous credit line (most often $1,000 or more, with no...

Pros: none
Cons: impossible to deal with

My problems with providian started several months ago when I received a card in the mail. I didn't remembering applying for it and after looking over the information decided I didn't want it. I promptly called the company and called to close it. A...

Pros: Give you credit even if you have bad credit
Cons: Will call you so much you'll want to change your phone number

I have horrible credit stemming from my younger and inexperienced years when I thought if I owed someone money, I'll just pay them back whenever I felt like it. Because of this, I'm denied for every single credit card I have ever applied for except...

Pros: None
Cons: Ridiculously high interest rates to customers in good standing.

If you had asked me to review Providian a month ago, or even yesterday, I would have given them rave reviews. They were a great company to me back in 1999 when I first discovered them. I had a 4 year old bankruptcy on my credit report and they were one...

Pros: They give credit cards to people with less than perfect credit histories.
Cons: The will bankrupt you with their increases, the credit limits, then the interest.

Providian Classic Visa. Nice sounding name in credit cards but that is where it ends. I applied for and received a credit card from Providian Bank several years ago. They started me with a $1000 credit limit and periodically, always around the holiday...

Pros: Easy credit for people w/ bad credit history.
Cons: High Interest Rates/HORRIBLE customer service/HIGH annual fees

I selected Providian for my credit because I plan on opening a home based business and needed some credit for start-up. I have pretty bad credit and Providian is always telemarketing my phone and sending numerous applications in the mail.
Finally I...

Pros: easy to get for bad credit
Cons: high fees, insane charges, bad Customer Service, bad Interest rates

Providian has served its purpose, but that’s about all. The Customer service is not so great, the card is not easy to get, and they try to push you into big spending.

I chose Providian after my bankruptcy and divorce were final, because they...

Pros: Allows credit rebuild (unsecured), no annual fee, online account access
Cons: high interest rate

After my bankruptcy a few years ago, I've been unable to get a credit card. Somehow, I'd been able to hang on to my American Express, but that isn't accepted everywhere, so I was looking for a Mastercard or Visa to fill in the gap.

Now that 3...

Pros: Anyone can get credit, credit increases
Cons: High interest rate to start

About two years ago, I received one of those letters in the mail saying that I had been approved for a Providian Classic Visa. I thought it was a joke. No one would give me credit because I had no credit history at all. When my husband and I...

Pros: quality customer service, responsive csr's
Cons: 1 very confused csr 1 time

I do not remember when I received my gold card, but I really did not think that I would get one due to an ex-wife
who totally destroyed my credit and sent me into bankruptcy.
I sent in the application and in a short time I received a gold card...

Pros: Bad Credit History OK
Cons: High Interest

I am one of those statistics, had a job, got some credit, got married, got some more credit, ran into problems (husband injured on the job).....oops bad credit.

We were doing fine and then it happened, are income to debt ratio changed...

Pros: None I can think of!
Cons: Expensive Education in Finance

I totally agree with Michele's opinion about this credit card company. I hesitate to use the word, bank.

I had a similar experience about ten months ago when I succumbed to their offer to transfer the balance from another card to them. The...

Pros: None.
Cons: affects ontime longterm cardholder's credit scores by lowering their credit limit.

Providian was a fairly okay credit card company until they started lowering customer's credit limits who pay ontime. By doing so Providian is in affect severly hurting good customer's credit scores by drastically affecting their debt to available credit ...

Pros: Offer cards to those with bad credit.
Cons: Outrageous interest rate, no grace period, unreasonable processing fee.

My credit background is not great thanks to my ex-husband's attitude about credit cards. When I left him we had several joint accounts that did not get paid on time even after my name was taken off of them. This has been a small obstacle in my life, but...