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Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE
SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Dennis Alter, certify that:

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|1. |  | I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Advanta Corp.;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
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|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;
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|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;                   
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|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 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;         
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|   |  | b)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |  | (Paragraph omitted pursuant to SEC Release Nos. 33-8238 and
34-47986);                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
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|   |  | c)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |  | 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                                                                                                    
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|   |  | d)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |  | 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
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|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 the
registrants board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
functions):        
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|   |  | 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                                                                                                              





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| |  | 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.

/s/ Dennis AlterDennis Alter
Chief Executive Officer
November 12, 2003

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