Providian promotes card executive to president, chief operating officer.

Shailesh Mehta, the executive behind Providian Bancorp's highly successful credit card business, is assuming broader responsibilities after a promotion.

Mr. Mehta's expanded role is also reflective of the larger changes taking place at the bank and its $23 billion-asset parent, Providian Corp., of Louisville, Ky., formerly Capital Holding Corp.

Providian Corp., which provides insurance and other financial products, named Mr. Mehta president and chief operating officer as part of an effort to streamline four separate lines of businesses.

Mr. Mehta, 45, also joined the board of directors.

He had been executive vice president of Providian since August 1993, as well as chief executive of Providian Bancorp and Providian Direct Insurance.

In addition to banking and insurance, Mr. Mehta will oversee the agency group, a provider of traditional life and health insurance.

The fourth business, Providian Capital Management will continue to report to Irving W. Bailey 2d, chairman and chief executive of Providian Corp.

Mr. Mehta, who has been promoted several times since joining the company in 1986, said that his most recent position will be eliminated. He plans to create a series of new positions, called unit managers, who will run the four businesses.

The primary difference is that unit managers will not be responsible for administrative functions. Their main focus will be marketing and customer relations, said Mr. Mehta.

"We will be a more integrated company," said Mr. Mehta who referred, in part, to the process of phasing in the Providian name for all aspects of the company's business.

Customers of Providian's credit card issuer, First Deposit National Bank of Tilton, N.H., still know the bank by its former name, rather than by its legal name, Providian Bancorp. Within the next six to nine months Providian Bancorp will be widely marketed, said Mr. Mehta.

The credit card business based out of San Francisco, owns the second-largest portfolio, behind Citibank's, of secured cards, with about 250,000 such accounts. Providian is the 19th-largest issuer of credit cards with $3.5 billion in outstanding receivables.

A strong believer in the future of secured cards, Mr. Mehta plans to expand the portfolio to one million accounts over the next five years.

Julie Montanari, who headed Providian's secured card business and was promoted nearly a year ago to executive vice president of credit cards, is the second most senior executive behind Mr. Mehta managing the credit card business.

Ms. Montanari, a nine-year veteran of the company, will continue to report to Mr. Mehta, who will be based in Louisville.

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