Advanta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Advanta is an American banking company. Currently, it controls two banks, Advanta Bank Corp and Advanta National Bank. Originally a provider of personal loans to teachers, Advanta's current focus is on small business services, particularly credit cards. In 2000, Advanta's small-business credit card receivables were $1.6 billion.
Advanta was founded in 1951 by Philadelphia schoolteacher Jack Alter, who originally ran the company from his spare bedroom. By 1972, the company had $25 million worth of investments in its investment certificate program. In 1985, Advanta became a publicly traded company (it is currently traded on NASDAQ under the symbol ADVNB). By 1995, Financial World named Advanta one of America's Best 100 Growth Companies. In 2000, Advanta was ranked among the "Most Admired Companies in America" by Fortune magazine. Advanta is still in its growth process.
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Advanta was founded in 1951 by Jack Alter, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania schoolteacher, to provide individual, needs-based loans to fellow teachers. Today, Advanta is a highly focused financial services company providing innovative financial solutions to small business owners and business professionals.
Advanta leverages its first-class direct marketing and information-based expertise to develop state-of-the-art warehousing and statistical modeling tools that identify potential customers and new target markets. For more than ten years, it has used these distinctive capabilities to become one of the nation's largest issuers (through Advanta Bank Corp.) of business credit cards to small businesses.
The current business credit care product is a no-fee Platinum BusinessCard that offers a combination of low rates, rich rewards and exclusive savings that makes it the very best credit card in the marketplace for small businesses. For rewards, customers can choose between two generous programs; cash back on everyday business purchases or points that can be redeemed for free travel, merchandise or gift cards. Other features of the card include the ability for customers to customize their card with their business name and 0% fraud liability.
Advanta operates two banks, Advanta National Bank and Advanta Bank Corp. Both banks are FDIC insured and provide funding for Advanta. The banking corporation is unrelated to Advanta Energy Corp., an energy consulting firm based on the west coast.
Advanta Corp.'s common stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market. The trading symbol for Class B non-voting Common Stock is ADVNB, and Class A Common Stock is ADVNA.
In 1990, Advanta Chairman and CEO Dennis Alter established The Advanta Foundation. Under his leadership, Advanta has provided over $12 million in grants for a variety of community activities in the arts, education, health and human services, and civic development. One of Advanta's most enduring values is long-standing support for the communities in which its employees live and work. This core value is reflected in the hundreds of hours its employees contribute to non-profit organizations and in the financial support provided by The Advanta Foundation and employee gifts matched by the Foundation.
