Providian visa cc

[Skooby]

My Providian visa cc (now with Washington Mutual) just provided me with an update on my fico score.

It's now 736!!

Man this is really a good service they provide, every month get a free fico score.

Anyone else with Providian visa? I'm wondering how accurate they are.

[parafly]

I also have a Providian Visa CC. The score they provide on their website is a TransUnion score. Having an updated score every month is a nice feature of their website.

EDIT: btw, I just checked my score (thanks for the reminder), and it is an all-time high for me: 826.

[b4freedom]

Originally Posted by Skooby

My Providian visa cc (now with Washington Mutual) just provided me with an update on my fico score.

It's now 736!!

Man this is really a good service they provide, every month get a free fico score.

Anyone else with Providian visa? I'm wondering how accurate they are.

I have the same card. I never closed it because of this reason. I never use it either because I use rewards cards.

I think it's a great service. Although, it makes me wonder. My credit score will change up and down over the year... it was a 802, then it'll slowly go down to about 770 and then slowly move back up and then go down again slowly... And I'm not really doing anything different.

[plumpossum]

I'm in the Providian Fico club too!

It was the first credit card I got, right out of high school. The rate was atrocious, I bought tires on it, ended up paying double for the tires after all the interest and making minimum payments (yikes!). When I realized it was a no-win situation I cut up the card and didn't activate the new one that came in the mail a year or so later. After I decided not to activate the card, I considered calling and closing the account, when I found out about the FICO score thing.

I've kept the account open ever since (without using the card) and check it monthly like it's my religion to do so. Luckily I learned not to close my oldest line of credit either

Jun 06- 740
Jul 06- 740
Aug 06- 709- (strangely I have no recollection of what happened here and why that happened!)
Sep 06- 732
Oct 06- 744
Nov 06- 747
Dec 06- 741
Jan 07- 743
Feb 07- 730
Mar 07- 726
Apr 07- 740
May 07- 745


Oh Providian, how do I love thee? Let me count... (well really the FICO thing is the only one)

[jamai]

doesn't it reflect badly on your credit rating if you keep making these inquiries in quick succession?

[neatdesign]

Originally Posted by jamai

doesn't it reflect badly on your credit rating if you keep making these inquiries in quick succession?

Checking your own credit report does not count as a hard inquiry. It's a soft inquiry which has no impact on your score.

LendingTree : Credit Report -- Soft Inquiry vs. Hard Pull

~ Jenney

[Skooby]

They just did the monthly update again.

As of 7/1/07 my fico score is 776!

An all time high!!!!

[humandraydel]

Is it still possible to get this card? Or did WaMu change the rules when they took over?

[Skooby]

Originally Posted by humandraydel

Is it still possible to get this card? Or did WaMu change the rules when they took over?

I don't know...here's is there website: Providian - Welcome

On the front page they are giving information about fico scores. So i suppose you can still get the card with this feature.

[usnavy_233]

I have them also. My FICO just topped 700 with them! 705 exactly. I've been fighting my way back from bad finances in 2000-2001.

As to your question of accuracy, I just applied for a mortgage pre approval and here's the breakdown between Providian and my middle score.

1st pre-approval:
Providian: 689
Middle Score: 650

2nd pre-aproval:
Providian: 705
Middle score 656

So, as you can see, it looks like the score they're pulling is on the high end of the three scores. But, like you said, it's a great service they provide and it lets you keep relative track of your score as well as providing you with a possible indicator of ID theft (if your score changes drastically one month).

[moneymatters]

Wow! You guys and gals have some outstanding credit scores. My score isn't even nowhere near the lowest score I see on here. I pay my bills on time, but my credit score doesn't be seem to moving up at all.

Am I doing something wrong? How do you'll do it?

[usnavy_233]

Originally Posted by moneymatters

Wow! You guys and gals have some outstanding credit scores. My score isn't even nowhere near the lowest score I see on here. I pay my bills on time, but my credit score doesn't be seem to moving up at all.

Am I doing something wrong? How do you'll do it?

Bribes. Hefty bribes.

Just kidding. My credit score used to be in the toilet as well. It's taken a few years now just to get it to skirt the 700 mark.

One thing I will recommend (and this is AFTER your debts are paid and you're sure you have the discipline to do it right) is to get a rewards card, put all your monthly expenses on it and pay it off at the end of each month. This has done wonders for my credit score. Of course, this is in addition to paying off all revolving debt, and letting time take its toll on the "payment history" section.

Remember, your FICO is 35% payment HISTORY (nothing you can do about that but make your future credit history look better) and 30% amounts owed. The amounts owed section is the biggest factor you can directly affect. But, having a rewards card and using it while paying it off regularly will help the payment history category over time.

[ayahner]

I had the providian card for over a year, and it was a great way to get a free credit score for transunion.

I missed one payment when i changed my payment schedule (ARgh!) and they dropped my credit limit to my current balance without warning!

Suddenly, i have a credit increase on my credit score now because of this. and they refused to raise it up again.

screw them. last time i use ths card for anything. I'll pilfer the transunion score for it, but the card is now gone.

Shady, providian. that's a trashy thing to do to a previously perfect customer.

[Skooby]

As of 9/1/07, my fico score from transunion (according to the providian cc site) is 792!

[Caoineag]

Yeah I have a Wamu and was thrilled to see my score go to 701. I still have cards near max which is why mine is so low. As the debt goes down, the score goes up!!

[Skooby]

Originally Posted by Skooby

As of 9/1/07, my fico score from transunion (according to the providian cc site) is 792!

It's now 808 as of 10/3/07! I wonder if anyone has ever got to 850?

[Kedi]

you can join MyPoints
then get their cc which is issued by Providian/Washington Mutual
you get the FICO perks, spending break down, etc
decent card as long as you don't carry a balance month to month


for every $ spent on the cc you earn points at MyPoints
MyPoints will send you emails you can click to earn points also
you can online shop through the MyPoints site to earn points
points are redeemable for all kinds of gc's, etc
I've cashed in MyPoints for Omaha Steaks packages,
gc's for Sharper Image & I just cashed in for $300 worth of
free spa services gc's

I try to run everyhting I can through this cc
things you gotta purchase no matter what like groceries, gasoline, etc
might as well get a little something back
I also have recurring bills for internet service & cell phone go on this card
those vendors give me a small discount for doing so
I earn points & pay off the card in full each month so no finance charges

one thing I learned with this credit card is do NOT do a balance transfer or cash advance no matter how small - you get your statement pay in full thinking okay I owe zero - NO not if you have charges that have come in since your statement & time of payment
they apply payment to ALL credit card charges posted before & after your statement date before applying to your cash advance/balance transfer