Advanta to halt new charges on its credit cards

Advanta Corp., a Montgomery County provider of credit cards to small businesses, left customers in the dark when it said this week that it was closing cards to new charges after June 10.

That irked Cheryl C. Spaulding, an Advanta customer in Downingtown, who found out through news reports that she would no longer be able to use the only credit card her small computer-programming company has.

"We do not keep a balance, paying it off each month. Even so, the loss of this line of credit is a limit to our company," Spaulding said yesterday.

Spaulding worries that the loss of the card could cause serious problems for small businesses that have not gotten the news and depend on the Advanta card for bills that are charged automatically.

Asked yesterday what Advanta was doing to notify customers, Amy Holderer, who handles investor and media relations at the Spring House company, said: "Customers will be notified at the appropriate time prior to June 10."

"I hope they notify 'appropriately' for anyone who may not be aware of this, so they don't get in a pinch, cash-flow-wise," said David M. Hasha, an Advanta customer who owns a legal-support business near Houston. "I was lucky to catch a small one-paragraph mention in the Houston Chronicle business section this morning."

Hasha, who puts about $15,000 a month in business expenses on the Advanta card to accumulate rewards in the form of Visa gift cards, was worried about whether his current balance of $650 to $700 in rewards was in jeopardy. He said he put the rewards toward family travel, including a trip to Philadelphia last fall.

Holderer said that after June 10, "rewards that have been earned by customers will still be available for redemption as long as the customer is in good standing on their account with us."

Spaulding, of Downingtown, said she found it "absolutely unconscionable" that Advanta was not doing anything to help its customers who are paying their bills to make the transition.

"For many small businesses, this is going to be a hit financially," said Spaulding, who on the side runs a nonprofit program to help the unemployed, "and it will make the job situation worse."