Worst Credit Card in HISTORY??????
Question: I just thought I’d take a moment to enchant you all with the ‘deal’ that I just got in the mail. It is for a Providian Visa Gold card. This is the fourth time in less than 30 days that I’ve received the same offer from them. It says that ‘Your card includes Gold features at NO EXTRA COST’. Wow! Here are the details:
1) $300 credit line 2) 24% Annual Percentage Rate (28% if one late payment) 3) Grace Period for purchases: None. 4) Annual Fee: $59 5) Cash Advance Fee: $5 minimum. 6) Late payment fee: $19 for first, $29 additional 7) Over the credit limit fee: $29 
Annual Fee billed on first statement
Does this sound like a good deal to you? It is obvious that Providian is hoping that someone racks up an amount larger than $300. I’m sure they won’t cap your spending at that amount. Let’s look at what might happen in the first month. Say you spend $242, and then the next month you get the payment in to them one day late. This means that:
A) You went over the credit limit because of their annual fee. ($29)
B) You also owe a late fee of $19. This means that instantly you owe them a total of $349 on the $242 that you spent. They have instantly made a whopping 44% return by letting you use their credit card. To top it all off, you are now at an even higher interest rate, and if you are late one more time in the next year, the late fee will increast to $29 as well.
I decided to do the little I could and sent back their postage paid reply envelope empty. It is the least I could do in order to make them just a bit less profitable. I’ve decided to do that more, rather than just throwing it all away. It will help keep the postage rates down a bit, and also help to discourage mass mailings of stupidity like this.
Answer: I have (two?) of their cards. I think they took over a company that I was pleased with. I’ve had Providian telemarketers call me and lie about the rates to entice me to use the card. I told ‘em to put it in writing and mail it to me, which of course they never did. IMO this is a scum of the earth company. I keep their cards just so they have to spend money sending me statements. Sometimes I’ll buy an item worth a buck or two. In a dire emergency, I could use the cards.
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