Capital One

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Capital One Financial Corporation

Type	Public company
Founded	1995
Headquarters	McLean, VA
Key people	Richard Fairbank, CEO Gary Perlin, CFO Catherine West, President of U.S. Card David Lawson, CEO of Capital One Auto Finance Larry Klane, Exec. VP of Global Financial Services
Industry	Finance and Insurance
Products	Credit Cards, Loans, Savings
Revenue	$10.69 Billion
Employees	14,481
Slogan	What's in your wallet?
Website	www.capitalone.com

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) is a McLean, Virginia-based bank holding company specializing in credit cards, home loans, auto loans, and savings products. Founded in 1988 by Richard Fairbank and Nigel Morris, the firm was a pioneer of the mass marketing of credit cards in the early 1990s and is now the fourth largest customer of the United States Postal Service^[1].

In 2002, Capital One won the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award for its innovative strategy specifically related to their credit card products. In 2005, Capital One entered the retail banking market with its acquisition of New Orleans, Louisiana-based Hibernia National Bank.

On March 12, 2006, Capital One announced an agreement to acquire Melville, New York-based North Fork Bank for $14.6 billion U.S. dollars. The merger was completed on December 1, 2006. Upon the completion of the merger, the bank is to be renamed as "Capital One Bank".^[2]

1 Marketing
2 International Operations
3 Diversity
4 Controversy
5 Management & Corporate Governance
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Marketing

Capital One is a major sponsor of sports teams. In 2001 Capital One became the principal sponsor of the Florida Citrus Bowl, an annual college football game played in Orlando, Florida, renaming it the Capital One Bowl. In the UK, the company currently sponsors Premier League football club Sheffield United and Football League One club Nottingham Forest.

Capital One bank in Wake Village, Texas

[edit] International Operations

Capital One commenced operations in Canada in 1996. Its head office is located in Toronto, Ontario. Unlike its diversified American parent, the Canadian business currently operates solely in the credit card market.

The UK headquarters of Capital One is in Nottingham, England.

Capital One also has a presence in Spain, with the local office located in Madrid.

The company was once active in France and South Africa, but has since withdrawn from these markets.

[edit] Diversity

Capital One received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in 2003, the second year of the report. Capital One's American division has a large number of foreign-born employees: in 2003 it sponsored more people for H-1B visas than any other financial services company (19th overall),^[3] though in 2005 it was 4th in financial services (34th overall).^[4]

[edit] Controversy

Capital One has a strategy to issue multiple cards with low limits to consumers, in an attempt to collect late fees across several cards. This is considered by many consumer advocates to be predatory.^[5]

[edit] Management & Corporate Governance

Key executives include:

Richard Fairbank Chief Executive Officer, President
Gary Perlin Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, Principal Accounting Officer
Catherine West Executive Vice President, President of U.S. Card
John Finneran Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary
Matthew Schuyler Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer
J. Herbert Boydstun Executive Vice President;President, Banking
Larry Klane Executive Vice President, Global Financial Services
David Lawson Executive Vice President, President and Chief Executive Officer, Capital One Auto Finance
Peter Schnall Executive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer
Gregor Bailar Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer