I had a Providian Smart Card (Visa). I paid more than the balance due every month in hopes that I would receive my increase. A year passed and I never received an account review to receive an account increase. When offered the card, a Providian associate had informed me that my account would be reviewed and approved for an increase within six months. Over a year of prompt payments that were more than the payment amount what more did I need?
I began noticing that when I would send in payments (via Western Union) that Providian began delaying when the payment would get posted to my account. Sometimes I waited for days, other times I waited almost two weeks. The payments were received before the due date (thanks to the admittance of a Providian REP) but the payment did not get posted to my account until AFTER the billing date.
This practice caused late fees to be charged to my account twice! With the late fees then my account went into over the limit status and I then found myself staring down the barrel of a bundle of unnecessary fees. It was like pulling teeth to get Providian to admit the mistake.
The account ended up closed, and now Providian is proudly requesting 1500.00 for an account that only had a 500.00 credit limit. (Only 462.19 of it was due to actual purchase charges)
I later learned via the internet that this was a common practice for Providian to hold payments and then apply the payments to the accounts after the billing date. (Guaranteeing late fees and most of the time over limit fees)
I wish I would have known this prior to accepting the card.
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