Advanta
Encyclopedia
Advanta was an American banking company. It controlled two banks, Advanta Bank Corp and Advanta National Bank. The banking corporation is not associated with Advanta Energy Corp., an energy consulting practice based in California. Until 1988, the company was called TSO Financial.
The bank was closed by the Utah Department of Financial Institutions on March 19, 2010. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
could not find a buyer.
Advanta began in 1951 as a provider of personal loans to schoolteachers. In 1971, when the current CEO, Dennis Alter, took over the company from his father, it had 30 employees. It served mostly teachers and was licensed only in Pennsylvania, Florida and Delaware. The business only provided fixed-payment loans; it did not own any banks nor was it involved in the mortgage or financing business in those years.
In the early 1990s, when its assets were at an all-time high of $25 billion, Advanta had the sixth-largest consumer credit card business in the U.S., with seven million credit card holders. In 1999, the company sold this part of its business, including and related assets, choosing to focus on the small business market.
Advanta's earnings for 2003 were $28.2 million, and it was the third largest credit card company for small businesses in the United States. In 2004, it employed 1,000 people, primarily in the Philadelphia region, but also in Salt Lake City.
In early 2006, Advanta had $4.9 billion in managed assets, with annual income of just under $400 million. Its credit cards were primarily marketed to entrepreneurs, homegrown businesses and small-scale organizations with fewer than 10 employees and less than $3 million in revenue.
In December 2008, developer Liberty Property Trust announced that it had stopped its plans to build a $55 million, 200000 square feet (18,580.6 m²) headquarters for Advanta in Upper Dublin Township, Pennsylvania
. In February 2009, Advanta said it had lost $43.8 million in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, primarily because of credit losses. The company said it would cut its dividends and expenses, and lay off 300 of its 900 employees. It also notified its credit card holders that their interest rates would be raised, from as low as 6 percent, to more than 30 percent, regardless of the holder's credit score
. In mid-March 2009, the stock was selling at 24 cents per share, down from its mid-2007 high of almost $30 per share.
On May 11, 2009, the company announced that it would close its credit cards to new charges as of June 10, 2009 and that the investment vehicles it employed to fund the credit card balances had gone into early amortization, effectively terminating the company's access to funds with which to accept new charges. It also announced an effort to buy back its senior investment notes at between 65 and 75 percent of face value.
In late May 2009, the company announced it was moving up the closing of all 1 million of its small business credit card accounts to June 1, and exiting the credit card business as of June 1. In early June, regulators refused to allow Advanta to improve its balance sheet by buying back $1.4 billion of its senior debt notes at a discount. Advanta had planned to pay between 65 percent and 75 percent of the face value of the notes.
At the beginning of July, 2009, Advanta was directed by the FDIC to stop accepting insured deposits and to repay $35 million to consumers who were improperly denied cash back bonuses or whose accounts had been improperly repriced.
In mid July, 2009 the company announced it would lay off half its remaining workforce, going from approximately 400 employees to fewer than 200. On July 20, 2009, the company revealed that the default rate on its credit cards had reached a previously unheard-of 56.95%.
In late July, 2009 the company was cited as offering dubious investment notes to the public via newspaper ads, however the same article noted that the portion of its website through which the company had been offering the notes was no longer functional.
On August 10, 2009 Advanta announced that the way forward for them was to find “a plan for new business opportunities” after posting a second quarter loss of $330 million.
On August 20, 2009 Advanta announced that its chargeoffs had returned to 24.02% following June's peak, June having been so high because of the change from charging off at 180 days of delinquency to charging off at 120 days, however the percentage of cards 30 days late had risen to 9.98% from 8.28%, portending a rise in future chargeoffs.
On September 21, 2009 Advanta announced that its chargeoffs had declined to 22.19%, however 30 day lates had risen to 11.57%.
On October 14, 2009 media outlets carried a story that a class action against Advanta was being readied on behalf of investors in Advanta stock.
In May 2010 many business card holders were filing FTC, BBB, and AG complaints with regulatory authorities in Utah. Calls to Advanta are channeled into a call centre in India where most callers cannot understand whom they are speaking to.
On November 8, 2009, Advanta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
.
On March 19, 2010, Utah state regulators seized Advanta Bank Corp. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was made the bank's receiver. The FDIC was unable to find a buyer for the bank so it will mail checks to its insured depositors up to $250,000 each and wind down the bank's operations. The FDIC estimates the cost of the failure to its Deposit Insurance Fund to be approximately $635.6 million.
The credit card accounts that still had balances are now being serviced by Cardworks Servicing, LLC of Pittsburgh PA. Some customers are reporting phantom payments they never made being applied to their account in effort to revalidate the debt and restart the statute of limitations on their several year old defaults.
The bank was closed by the Utah Department of Financial Institutions on March 19, 2010. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a United States government corporation created by the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933. It provides deposit insurance, which guarantees the safety of deposits in member banks, currently up to $250,000 per depositor per bank. , the FDIC insures deposits at...
could not find a buyer.
Advanta began in 1951 as a provider of personal loans to schoolteachers. In 1971, when the current CEO, Dennis Alter, took over the company from his father, it had 30 employees. It served mostly teachers and was licensed only in Pennsylvania, Florida and Delaware. The business only provided fixed-payment loans; it did not own any banks nor was it involved in the mortgage or financing business in those years.
In the early 1990s, when its assets were at an all-time high of $25 billion, Advanta had the sixth-largest consumer credit card business in the U.S., with seven million credit card holders. In 1999, the company sold this part of its business, including and related assets, choosing to focus on the small business market.
Advanta's earnings for 2003 were $28.2 million, and it was the third largest credit card company for small businesses in the United States. In 2004, it employed 1,000 people, primarily in the Philadelphia region, but also in Salt Lake City.
In early 2006, Advanta had $4.9 billion in managed assets, with annual income of just under $400 million. Its credit cards were primarily marketed to entrepreneurs, homegrown businesses and small-scale organizations with fewer than 10 employees and less than $3 million in revenue.
In December 2008, developer Liberty Property Trust announced that it had stopped its plans to build a $55 million, 200000 square feet (18,580.6 m²) headquarters for Advanta in Upper Dublin Township, Pennsylvania
Upper Dublin Township, Pennsylvania
Upper Dublin Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 25,569 at the 2010 census.Upper Dublin is made up of several community areas, many of which are unincorporated areas in Montgomery County with no legal status, and are used primarily by the US...
. In February 2009, Advanta said it had lost $43.8 million in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, primarily because of credit losses. The company said it would cut its dividends and expenses, and lay off 300 of its 900 employees. It also notified its credit card holders that their interest rates would be raised, from as low as 6 percent, to more than 30 percent, regardless of the holder's credit score
Credit score
A credit score is a numerical expression based on a statistical analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of that person...
. In mid-March 2009, the stock was selling at 24 cents per share, down from its mid-2007 high of almost $30 per share.
On May 11, 2009, the company announced that it would close its credit cards to new charges as of June 10, 2009 and that the investment vehicles it employed to fund the credit card balances had gone into early amortization, effectively terminating the company's access to funds with which to accept new charges. It also announced an effort to buy back its senior investment notes at between 65 and 75 percent of face value.
In late May 2009, the company announced it was moving up the closing of all 1 million of its small business credit card accounts to June 1, and exiting the credit card business as of June 1. In early June, regulators refused to allow Advanta to improve its balance sheet by buying back $1.4 billion of its senior debt notes at a discount. Advanta had planned to pay between 65 percent and 75 percent of the face value of the notes.
At the beginning of July, 2009, Advanta was directed by the FDIC to stop accepting insured deposits and to repay $35 million to consumers who were improperly denied cash back bonuses or whose accounts had been improperly repriced.
In mid July, 2009 the company announced it would lay off half its remaining workforce, going from approximately 400 employees to fewer than 200. On July 20, 2009, the company revealed that the default rate on its credit cards had reached a previously unheard-of 56.95%.
In late July, 2009 the company was cited as offering dubious investment notes to the public via newspaper ads, however the same article noted that the portion of its website through which the company had been offering the notes was no longer functional.
On August 10, 2009 Advanta announced that the way forward for them was to find “a plan for new business opportunities” after posting a second quarter loss of $330 million.
On August 20, 2009 Advanta announced that its chargeoffs had returned to 24.02% following June's peak, June having been so high because of the change from charging off at 180 days of delinquency to charging off at 120 days, however the percentage of cards 30 days late had risen to 9.98% from 8.28%, portending a rise in future chargeoffs.
On September 21, 2009 Advanta announced that its chargeoffs had declined to 22.19%, however 30 day lates had risen to 11.57%.
On October 14, 2009 media outlets carried a story that a class action against Advanta was being readied on behalf of investors in Advanta stock.
In May 2010 many business card holders were filing FTC, BBB, and AG complaints with regulatory authorities in Utah. Calls to Advanta are channeled into a call centre in India where most callers cannot understand whom they are speaking to.
On November 8, 2009, Advanta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
.
On March 19, 2010, Utah state regulators seized Advanta Bank Corp. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was made the bank's receiver. The FDIC was unable to find a buyer for the bank so it will mail checks to its insured depositors up to $250,000 each and wind down the bank's operations. The FDIC estimates the cost of the failure to its Deposit Insurance Fund to be approximately $635.6 million.
The credit card accounts that still had balances are now being serviced by Cardworks Servicing, LLC of Pittsburgh PA. Some customers are reporting phantom payments they never made being applied to their account in effort to revalidate the debt and restart the statute of limitations on their several year old defaults.