Capital One is a member of the Fortune 500 and was heavily involved with the mass marketing of credit cards back in the 1990’s. Today, Capital One specializes in credit cards, home loans, auto loans and saving products. The company itself was founded in 1988 by Richard Fairbank and Nigel Morris.
With it’s acquisition of the Hibernia National bank in 2005 and North Fork Bancorporation in 2006, Capital One was able to enter the retail banking market.
The Growth of Capital One
Capital One began as consumer lending “monocline” in that it only used to deal with consumer lending. The danger of this strategy is that although great profits can be made when times are good, when times are less favourable such companies may be acquired cheaply or indeed may go out of business. Examples are MBNA, Beneficial and First USA all of whom were acquired by organizations when their stars began to fade and The Money Store, NextCard and Royal Acceptance who went out of business during downturn.
Capital One’s success may be due to its use of customer data which helps tailor its products to specific customers. Unlike other monolines who have been acquired by larger and more diverse banks, Capital One chose to enter itself into retail banking when it acquired the two large regional banks of Hibernia and North Fork.
Organizational Divisions
Capital One Financial Corporation is the parent company of Capital One Auto Finance which is based in Texas. Having originally sold auto loans only through direct mail and auto dealerships Capital One Auto Finance (or COAF) is now considered to be one of the largest if not the largest Internet auto lender. This success followed its purchase of PeopleFirst.
Capital One and International Operations
Capital One operates solely within the credit card market in Canada. Its head office there is located in Toronto. Within the United Kingdom Capital One has its headquarters in Nottingham. It also has an office in Madrid, Spain. Capital One no longer operates from France and South Africa.
Investment in Sports
A major sponsor of sports teams, Capital One became the main sponsor of the Florida Citrus Bowl in 2001 and in the UK Capital One currently sponsors Nottingham Forest Football Club.
Capital One Popular Credit Cards
The Capital One cite a number of credit cards available to suit individual credit ratings. For those with an excellent credit rating tthe following two cards Capital One credit cards are available:
- No Hassle Miles Rewards
- Capital One Platinum Prestige
For those with an average credit rating the following cards are available:
- The Capital One Standard Platinum
- Capital One Platinum