WASHINGTON, July 10, 2000 -- Now you can catch the Aria without realizing you're at the opera.

Providian Financial Corp. is spreading the marketing tentacles for its Aria credit card far and wide through a maze of Internet sites and portals. Its latest deal is with Digital Insight Corp., which provides Internet banking platforms for more than 880 community banks and credit unions.

The deal gives Providian a chance to capture some of the banks' 18 million customers. Those who sign up online for what they think is a credit card from their local bank or credit union will wind up getting an Aria card instead. It's the latest in a series of deals Providian has made with what are called Application Service Providers (ASPs).

Providian is also beefing up its e-commerce businesses -- including GetSmart.Com and E-LOAN, Web-based services that offer credit cards and other types of credit to online consumers.

Greg Pacheco, a Providian senior vice president, described the strategy in a recent interview with Card News, a banking industry publication.

Speaking of E-LOAN, Pacheco said, "We've got a jump page that's very co-branded so the customer still feels like they're in an E-LOAN site, but when they apply for the product they go through an Aria back-end process. ... (The customer thinks) I'm doing an E-LOAN transaction -- but the product that's underlying is an Aria credit card."

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