Providian Financial Corporation was an American financial services company founded in 1997, which became one of the leading credit card issuers in the United States before it was sold to Washington Mutual for approximately US$6.5 billion in October 2005. The company emphasized borrowers with lower income and lower credit ratings. Providian was headquartered in San Francisco, California, and had more than 10 million card holders at the time of its sale. Washington Mutual, Inc., continued to run the company as a wholly owned subsidiary, out of its San Francisco headquarters. At its peak, the company employed approximately 13,000 people nationwide. Providian had significant operations in California, New Hampshire, and Texas.
History
In 1981, the Parker Pen company acquired two banks to start a credit card company by the name of First Deposit, based in San Francisco. In 1984, First Deposit was sold to the Kentucky insurance company Capital Holding, later renamed Providian.[1][2] When Providian's insurance operations were acquired by