Advanta Snapshot
Advanta Bank Corp., formerly one of the nation's largest issuers of MasterCard and some Visa business credit cards to small businesses and professionals, is getting out of the credit card business for now. Advnta announced it would no longer accept charges on its cards starting in June 2009, affecting more than 1 million accounts.The bank will continue to offer deposit products and online banking, but said it plans to wait out the recession before reevaluating its credit card business. Its customers were told they would be able to continue paying on their balances as scheduled, but could not access any additional credit. CEO (and son of founder Jack Alter) Dennis Alter controls 11% of Advanta.