**Exhibit 31.1**

SECTION 302 CERTIFICATION 

        I,Joseph W. Saunders, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Providian FinancialCorporation (the “Registrant”), certify that: 

        1.                 I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of the Registrant; 

        2.                 Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a          material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements          made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not          misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; 

        3.                 Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information          included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial          condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Registrant as of, and          for, the periods presented in this report; 

        4.                 The Registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for          establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in          Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the Registrant and we have: 

                         (a)                 Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure          controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that          material information relating to the Registrant, including its consolidated          subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly          during the period in which this report is being prepared; 

                         (b)                 Evaluated the effectiveness of the Registrant’s disclosure controls and          procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness          of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered          by this report based on such evaluation; and 

                         (c)                 Disclosed in this report any change in the Registrant’s internal control          over financial reporting that occurred during the Registrant’s most recent          fiscal quarter (the Registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an          annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to          materially affect, the Registrant’s internal control over financial          reporting; and 

        5.                 The Registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on          our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the          Registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of Registrant’s Board of          Directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): 

                         (a)                 All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation          of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to          adversely affect the Registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and          report financial information; and 

                         (b)                 Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees          who have a significant role in the Registrant’s internal control over          financial reporting. 

Date: November 14, 2003 

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