Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) is a diversified bank holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia. The company’s core businesses include credit card lending, consumer and commercial banking, and auto finance. Capital One issues a wide range of credit card products for consumers and small businesses, and it operates deposit and digital banking services aimed at retail customers and small to midsize enterprises.
Products and services include credit and charge cards, checking and savings accounts (including the online-focused Capital One 360 platform), auto loans, and commercial lending solutions. The company combines traditional branch and ATM services with a significant digital and mobile banking presence, and it emphasizes data analytics and technology in underwriting, customer acquisition and risk management.
Founded in 1994 by Richard Fairbank and Nigel Morris, Capital One grew rapidly as a data-driven card issuer and later expanded its consumer banking footprint through acquisitions such as the 2012 purchase of ING Direct USA, which helped build its online banking business. The firm primarily serves customers in the United States, with select international operations and business lines that reach broader markets.
Capital One operates as a federally regulated bank holding company and serves a mix of retail and commercial clients. Leadership has included its co-founders in senior roles, and the company continues to invest in technology, compliance and risk management to support its lending and deposit-taking activities.