Fitch Downgrades Advanta's Long-Term IDR TO 'C'; Watch Negative

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Fitch Ratings has downgraded the long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and the
outstanding debt ratings of Advanta Corp. and Advanta Bank Corp. (collectively
Advanta) as follows:

Advanta Corp.

-- Long-term IDR to 'C' from 'CC';

-- Senior debt to 'C/RR5' from 'CC/RR4'.

Advanta Bank Corp.

-- Long-term IDR to 'CC' from 'CCC'.

Fitch has placed Advanta Corp.'s IDR on Rating Watch Negative and expects to
downgrade the IDR to 'Restricted Default' (or 'RD') upon consummation of the
tender offer for all $100 million of the 8.99% trust preferred securities on
June 15, 2009. All remaining ratings no longer carry a Rating Outlook or Watch.

The downgrades reflect an expectation for further deterioration of profitability
and asset quality due to the closing of all credit card accounts as of May 30,
2009. Advanta is now in wind-down mode. The recovery rating on the senior debt
at the parent, which amounted to $183 million as of March 31, 2009, was revised
to 'RR5' from 'RR4', which reflects below average recovery prospects. The
revision was driven by an expected decline in liquid assets at Advanta Corp.
resulting from the tender for the trust preferred securities and the cash burn
associated with running the business down. Fitch does not expect the bank to
upstream any further dividends to the parent.

Fitch has affirmed the following ratings:

Advanta Bank Corp.

-- Short-term IDR at 'C'.

-- Long-term deposits at 'B-/RR2'.

Advanta Capital Trust

-- Trust Preferred at 'C/RR5'.

Fitch affirmed Advanta Bank Corp.'s long-term deposit rating and assigned a
Recovery Rating of 'RR2', which reflects superior recovery prospects. As of
March 31, 2009 the bank had cash, securities, and fed funds sold of
approximately $2.2 billion versus $2.5 billion of deposits.

Fitch affirmed the trust preferred rating, but revised the Recovery Rating to an
'RR5' from an 'RR6' to incorporate Advanta's tender offer for the securities at
20% of face value. A recovery rating of 'RR5' reflects below average recovery
prospects and is consistent with securities historically recovering 11% to 30%
of principal and accrued interest.

Fitch has withdrawn the following ratings:

Advanta Corp.

-- Short-term IDR 'C'.

The rating withdrawal reflects Fitch's belief that the parent company will not
issue any further short-term debt.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on
the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and
methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of
conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance
and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of
Conduct' section of this site.

Fitch Ratings, New York
Meghan Crowe, CFA, +1-212-908-9121
Sadia Afridi, +1-212-908-0327
Brian Bertsch, +1-212-908-0549 (Media Relations)
brian.bertsch@fitchratings.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009