Company Overview
Highlights
Focuses on providing financial services for small businesses.
Fosters a collegial work environment and offers inside training, outside seminars and conferences, and workplace visits by speakers and consultants.
Jack Alter, a schoolteacher from Philadelphia, created the Advanta Corp. in 1951 to provide loans to teachers. The company was originally known as the Teachers Service Organization, and the name was changed to Advanta in 1988. Advanta provides consumers and small businesses with equipment leases, business credit cards, mortgages, and insurance. To the mortgage industry, Advanta offers loan purchasing, contract servicing, and securitization services. The corporation also includes two banks, Advanta National Bank and Advanta Bank Corp., which offer, among other services, certificates of deposit and money-market accounts. The company has two investment businesses: Advanta Partners is a private investment partnership that invests in companies in the information-services and financial-services fields, while Advanta Growth Capital focuses on early stage investment opportunities in technology and information services. The Advanta Foundation, formed in 1990, has awarded more than $10 million in grants to fund organizations involved in community arts and culture, education, and health and human services.