Purchase of Providian Portfolio

CardLine reports that J. P. Morgan & Chase will buy the $8.2 billion Providian Financial Corp. master trust. The 3.3 million credit card accounts in the portfolio are comprised of $7 billion of platinum accounts and $1.2 billion of standard accounts, according to Chase. Ultimately, Chase will have about 227 million accounts from the deal. The purchase price was not disclosed. Providian will retain 15 million subprime accounts. It is planning to sell a separate portfolio of $3 billion subprime accounts. As we reported last fall, shares of Providian Financial Corporation, the fastest growing company in the consumer finance industry, sank 58% in a single day last October after the company announced losses in its subprime loan portfolio."