Fleet VP Joins Former Boss at Providian

Providian Financial Corp., hurt by rising credit card losses, hired FleetBoston Financial Corp.’s Warren Wilcox as vice chairman of planning and marketing to help lure customers more likely to pay their bills.

Wilcox reports to Chief Executive Joseph Saunders, who had been his boss as head of FleetBoston’s credit card unit until November. The two also worked at Household International, the largest U.S. consumer-finance firm.

The sixth-biggest U.S. Visa and MasterCard issuer is trying to attract more middle-income customers as more cardholders with poor credit histories can’t pay their credit card bills in the slowing economy. Federal regulators prohibited Providian from adding any more risky cardholders after third-quarter profit fell 71%. Providian shares gained 27 cents Monday to close at $4.60 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Wilcox started in the newly created position last week. “He will play a major role in our efforts to restructure Providian,” Saunders said in a statement.

At FleetBoston Wilcox had been executive vice president of credit card planning and development since 1998. Previously, he spent 12 years at Household.