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Thread: Okay - another credit card question....

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    Featured Member tRoUbLeMaKeR's Avatar
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    Default Okay - another credit card question....

    Okay so I took the credit card offer I got a few months ago per the recommendations I got here on stripperweb.... well I have 19% interest on this card(providian). I got a credit card offer from capital one yesterday for a credit card with the same credit limit as my providian one but with 13.9% interest. I called Providian to tell them of the offer and see if they could either match or simply lower my current interest rate to compete with capital one. (my mother in law said she had done this). Providian said no. So now I'm thinking of getting the capital one card and transferring my providian balance and closing that account.

    What do you think - good idea? bad idea? will this affect my credit history? is capital one better than providian?

    Sorry - it's obvious that credit stuff really isn't my area!
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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    God/dess montythegeek's Avatar
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    Default Re:Okay - another credit card question....

    I have no experience with either, but if you take the new one and close the old one MAKE SURE it is noted as "closed by customer request". All it takes is a letter when you close it--keep a copy if there is ever any issues on your credit report in the future.

    This makes sure no one down the road thinks you got cancelled.

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re:Okay - another credit card question....

    Providian and Capital One both cater to "subprime" credit risk customers. At one time I had a Capital One Master Card with a comparatively low rate. But they were eternally sitting on my monthly payment check for several days, then entering a late charge on my account. After several calls with no success in straightening this out, I wound up having to make my monthly payments via money order sent by certified mail. Then for the next 3 months when they tried the phony late fee business I told them of the existance of the certified delivery receipt and they deleted the bogus late fee. My take on Capital One is that they use every legal trick in the book to make up for their somewhat lower interest rates by slapping on extra fees.

    Obviously, as soon as my credit was good enough, I dumped Capital One for an Amex small business card. Three months later they came back to me with an offer for a Platinum Master Card with much lower fixed interest, which I signed up for since there are many places which do not accept Amex.

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    Featured Member Vamp's Avatar
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    Default Re:Okay - another credit card question....

    From all i have heard about capital one, its not a good credit card to get. Especially if you carry a high balence. They have have been known to demand total payment of the balence at once for no reason. Which they legally can do. They have insane amount of fees as well.

    Interest rates for non store credit cards are determined by credit history. Check your credit report. Also keep in mind that every time you apply for a credit card it does reduce your credit score for a short period of time. So if your gonna apply for a loan soon its a good idea to put off transferring balences. Those few score points can make a big impact on the type of interest rate you get for that loan.

    Im a big advocate of credit unions. Credit union credit cards usually have a fixed interest rate. It is usually a litttle higher than most cards. But you pay the same interest rate for all transactions including cash advances. Many credit card offers you get thru the mail charge anywhere from 20 to 25% interest on cash advances. The fees are alot lower over all with a credit union. If you have problems paying for a particular month they are more willing to work with you as well. If you have questions its always easier to sit down and talk to someone about it than calling someone who has millions of clients to serve.

    Always do your research and read the fine print.
    Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. ~ Mark Twain


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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re:Okay - another credit card question....

    Vamp, I totally agree with you on the value of using credit unions rather than banks - particularly large banks. Their rates and fees are usually substantially lower. You can talk with a human who actually cares about keeping you as a customer. And these days there's essentially nothing in the way of banking services which credit unions can't provide - from credit card services to foreign currency exchange to international wire transfers.

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    Default Re:Okay - another credit card question....

    Read all of the fine print...for both cards (yearly fees, monthly access fees, APR's, lifetime APR's, late fees, over the limit fees, do they charge to increase your credit line). After you read them all, if the one card has more pros than cons, then it should be ok to transfer the money and close the higher card. Be sure to transfer the balance and then send a certified letter saying that you would like to cancel the card. Then, make sure you get a copy of your credit report a few months down the line and make sure that it reflects that YOU closed the account, like Monty said.

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    Default Re:Okay - another credit card question....

    If you hvae no credit cards and get both in about 5 or 6 months it will affect your credit history in a positive way provided you make all the payments on time. Its a big misconception that the more cards you have the worse your credit score is going to be. Well within reason anyway. However having 2 cards give them more credit lines to evaluate so it will improve your history. the best would be if you hvae one and get another. Transfer the balance to the new card. Thn leave the old card open with a Zero balance. if you hve 1 card with a 5000 limit and use 2500 of it its not bad you have used 50% of your available credit. If you have 2 cards with $5000 Limits each and have used $2500 on one card and none of the other than you have used 25% of your available credit. This looks a lot better to the credit agencies. As far as if the cards are good cards to get i wouldnt know.

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    God/dess VenusGoddess's Avatar
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    Default Re:Okay - another credit card question....

    ^In response to the above...it's better, finance-wise, to charge no more than 1/3 of your credit limit. If you are rebuilding or building your credit, you do not want to look like you are "making ends meet" by using your card (watch those balances). Having multiple credit cards with almost 50% on all the cards will show poorly on your credit report...especially in the rebuilding/building stage.

    After you establish your credit (about 12 months); providing that your credit score is higher than 660, you'll probably find that you can apply for low APR cards (platinums, etc) and not get penalized for paying off your balance in full every month. Had one friend who had a credit score of 785 and paid off her cards each month...and had a 0% APR...had another friend who was rebuilding credit and thought it would be good to do the same...her account was closed...it also did not help her credit report (showed closed by credit grantor). So, for rebuilding/building credit, you need to carry some kind of balance over (even if it's $25...something).

    One thing that we do (we're rebuilding) is have the full amount of the amount charged on the card. We put 1/2 in savings and send the other 1/2 to the credit card company. The next month, we send the 1/2 that was saved the month before and 1/2 of whatever was charged in the new month. Hope this makes sense. That way, we always have money to pay our bill and we get the advantages of having a credit card.

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    Veteran Member Gerina's Avatar
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    Default Re:Okay - another credit card question....

    I picked up a capital one card about four years ago when they were first starting out, low apr, and everything was peachy until about two years ago. Then they started advertising and all of a sudden i was being charged an annual fee w/ a penalty of high interest rate if I closed the account before paying the balance. At this point I'd racked up a balance because of the low interest rate. I only recently paid off the balance and cancelled the card. They will still charge a fee if you don't carry a balance and their customer service is just awful - DON'T SWITCH. I managed to have some late fees waived, but that was because they charged them when I paid a week before due date! When I called to cancel complaining of the fees, their response was, "well, other card companies charge you fees, but you just don't know about them". Totally pissed me off, since I know w/ no balance on my other cards I am not charged anything. No hidden fees, yeah, because they charge you every fee.
    ...and the day came, when the risk it took to remain closed in a bud became worse than the risk it took to blossom.

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