Hmm... I need to find out myself. I don't know what is the answer. I'll do some research in Google and get back to you if I find an answer. You should email the people at Lending Tree as they probably could give you an answer..

I have 2 Providian cards also. With one I have never hyad a problem. With another they reduced my CL from $2000 to $200, right after I paid the darn thing off. I closed the one they lowered the limit on becaue I did not appreciate that..

I use the on-line service to make payments. I have never been late, and other than the problem above, have had no problems with Providian...

That offer is from their "prime" division. Providian Bank, in Salt Lake City, has a different culture from the California and New Hampshire divisions..

I'm stuck in their subprime basement, seemingly forever. Even with a perfect payment record and no new derogs since they issued my Visa and MC, they repriced both from 23.99 to 29.99. On top of a $59 annual fee for each card..

Your card sounds quite a bit different from that. It's a good prime offer, IMHO, so I guess they won't stereotype you as subprime for the rest of your life..

Watch out for that default rate, though. It's correct to say that they aren't very forgiving...

Providian is Providian, there is no subprime / prime divisions that I am aware of..

The terms of the offer are appealing, and I received the same offer as you, but threw it away. Providian lost my trust and consequently my business. There has been way too much bad publicity and I have yet to be convinced that Providian has what it takes to compete in the prime/superprime lending business. If they are able to take away some market share from citi, chase, mbna, then I might reconsider doing business with them..

Make the decision that is best for you, but be advised that some members have had good relations, but many members on this board have had nightmarish experiences with this bank...

You paid your card off and they LOWERED your credit limit??? Man, talk about insanity. That makes no sense at all. Use your card responsibly, pay it off in full, and then get penalized for it??? You never had any lates or anything? They just arbitrarily lowered your CL out of the blue? Scary....very scary...

Providian is :.

Providian National Bank in New Hampshire and California..

Providian Bank in Utah..

That's straight from their literature..

As far as I know, the Platinum cards are offered and issued from Utah. I've never received one, so I'm not sure. But it is a genuine issue, and I know you get treated much worse if you don't have a Platinum card. I hope this card is from Utah, in which case I'm right and it's a good credit card offer..

If the offer isn't from Utah, then either I'm wrong about separate divisions, or I'm right about separate divisions but the offer is from the wrong division...

The reasons I got were:.

1. Paying the minimum for so many months (I did that once).

2. Opening a new account (there was no new account) and.

3. A recent collection (Fugging Gulf State).

I was never late, and the rep pretty much admitted that paying off my account triggered a AR, and they decided to lower my limit since they had all the money I owed them. They had nothing to lose...

Nothing to lose except merchant fees and interest, and possibly annual fees, from your account..

Providian is so short-sighted to treat their old subprime account holders like trash or even criminals. Sure, they get the principal back, but then they can't get any more interest from those same people. That's their business, giving credit to subprime customers and charging high interest rates in return..

If they think that anyone with prime, platinum-level credit is going to put up with their rude, inept CSR's and their rapacious, senseless "repricing" policies, then they are truly delusional. Which they are...