www.Wamucards.com I have been a customer of Providian for several years. I have always paid my bills on time and have never had any late fees, over-the-limit or returned payment fees. Never a fee of any kind. I always pay at least minimum and mostly above minimum.

My APR for purchases is (or rather was) 12.74%. This is according to my 09/08 bill. I received my Nov. bill and there was an ‘Important Notice of Changes to Your WashingtonMutual Visa/Mastercard Agreement’. Well, needless to say, the changes are NOT in my favor. They state ‘as explained below, we are amending your Visa/Mastercard agreement.’ The way they have ‘amended’ it is to say that from my Dec. billing forward my new APR for purchases will be-get this- 23.99%. This for purchases, not cash advances, which are ALSO 23.99%. Is this insane or what??? www.Wamucards.com

Like the previous complaintants, I too called their customer service dept. for an explaination. The notice they sent clearly states ‘ If you would like a statement of specific reasons why we have decided to amend your Agreement, please write to us or call us within 60 days of the date you receive this notice’. When I called I could not get any explaination as to why they did this.

I tried all kinds of angles trying to get them to give me some kind of reason. They couldn’t (or more likely wouldn’t) explain jack to me. I feel like one of the other complaintants, that I have been raped with no dinner either! I could understand if I had done something wrong on my account but I haven’t. Furthermore, all my other accounts with other companies are in good standing and never been late etc.

I would be willing to join a class action suit and if anyone out there has been able to get this type of thing reversed, please let me know. Also if anyone is aware of the proper agencies or consumer advocacy groups to report this to, let all of us know. I would totally steer clear of Providian and will tell everyone I know that they are a rip off company. If there is a hell, they will be the gate keepers. www.Wamucards.com

Wamucards.com Washington Mutual (or shortly known as WaMu) is another major issuer of credit cards.

Washington Mutual is considered one of the most important credit card issuer in the States, even though credit cards are just one of the services it offers. Still, Washington Mutual credit cards are widely accepted, no matter if they are Visa or MasterCard.

Washington Mutual is the largest savings and loan institution in the United States and its activity is focused mainly on loans, mortgages and other types of money lending. Formally Card Services (which includes not only credit cards) are one of the 4 major segments but unlike many other companies, which are primarily a credit card issuer, Washington Mutual is above all a savings and loan institution.

The predecessor of Washington Mutual was founded in 1889 and the company has undergone through many transformations during the years. There have been many mergers and acquisitions and one of them was the merger with Providian. Many people consider that this merger was the end of the credit card activities of Washington Mutual. Wamucards.com

Providian is notorious for its cheating practices and many Washington Mutual credit card holders complain that Providian’s practices of charging late fees for paying on time, or for outstanding balances when the balance is actually zero have been adopted by Washington Mutual as well.

It is true that after the merger with Providian, the credit card policies of Washington Mutual changed and as a result of that the terms are becoming more and more unfavorable. For instance, the rates for foreign currency transactions of Washington Mutual are one 1 percentage point higher than those of Providian, while over the years Washington Mutual’s fees for foreign currency transactions used to relatively low.

Washington Mutual itself is one of the companies that issue Washington Mutual credit cards. Currently they have the Washington Mutual Platinum MasterCard. Among the notable features of the Washington Mutual Platinum MasterCard is the time for approval. As advertised on their site, there is a 30-second online response on applying. However, many customers report that the actual process of approval takes much longer because 30 seconds after you apply, you get a message that you will be contacted later. Wamucards.com

$0 fraud liability on unauthorized purchases is another benefit of Washington Mutual credit cards. However, having in mind that so many other credit card issuers offer the same kind of protection, $0 fraud liability is hardly a feature that makes the offer of Washington Mutual an outstanding one. As a matter of fact, the credit cards with Washington Mutual brand that are issued by Providian, offer better terms and conditions (at least for the majority of card holders), than those issued by Washington Mutual itself.

Providian is another major issuer of Washington Mutual credit cards. In addition to the Providian Visa Platunim card they offer also several types of rewards cards. Again, compared to the offers of other credit card issuers, this looks pretty modest. However, one has to bear in mind that Washington Mutual might not offer the widest selection of credit cards but it does offer many additional services.

Wamucards.com

Wamucards This is pretty cool.
If you sign up for a Wamu credit card and use their online site to manage your account, they do periodic credit checks (once every 3 months) and give you your score.

They also have a simulator that shows you how your score might change if, say you decreased your revolving balance, or if you paid on time for the next three months, or if you miss a payment.
Also, they will give you a summary of your accounts. # of deliquencies, total revolving balance, and # of recent inquiries. they will not tell you specific account information though. This is good for someone who wants a good overview of their credit standing.

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I applied for a Wamu card about four months ago to transfer all my balances over to a 0% interest for 14 months. so far they only charge me interest on the transfer fee ($75 fee). I know the fee seems high but I pay about $75 in interest a month on my old credit card, so the fee is not bad at all, considering I dont pay any more interest for a whole year.

Im sure there are other credit card websites that let you check your credit score on a periodic basis. please list them if you can.

Hope this helps everyone.

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