Capital One 1996 Annual Report Download - page 7

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5
pleted this large-scale hiring without
compromising our exacting standards.
We are committed to recruiting top per-
formers for every job because the speed,
scope and complexity of our daily activ-
ities demand the best efforts of the best
people. At year-end, more than 30% of
our associates were owners of Capital
One stock—evidence that the people of
Capital One clearly believe in the
Company and have aligned their per-
sonal interests with our goal of creating
long-term value for stockholders.
Geographically and organizational-
ly, we have continued to diversify.
During 1996, we added two operational
centers in Richmond and one in the
Dallas-Fort Worth area. A major expan-
sion is also under way in Tampa.
Additionally, we established Capital
One, F.S.B. in Falls Church, Virginia
and opened a branch of Capital One
Bank in London. These new operations
will allow us to develop new products,
expand our customer base and enter
new markets.
Developing the Next
Generation of Products
As 1997 begins, we remain hard at
work testing a third generation of inno-
vations. Despite being one of the
nation’s 10 largest credit card issuers,
we have always seen ourselves as infor-
mation-based marketers rather than as
substantial increases in charge-offs,
whether from a continued oversupply
of credit or an economic downturn.
The combination of our strategy and
our conservatism was critical to our
record performance in a difficult year
for the credit card business.
Also important to Capital One’s con-
tinued strong growth has been our abil-
ity to harness the power of cutting-edge
information technology and use it to
create a highly flexible operating infra-
structure. This infrastructure allows
us to bring new ideas to market much
more quickly than our competition.
Our success in integrating informa-
tion technology into every aspect of
our business earned Capital One the
Gartner Group’s 1996 Excellence in
Technology Award. Given annually
to only one company in the United
States, the award is one of the most
prestigious in its field. Past winners
include UPS, American Airlines and
Federal Express.
Recruiting Top Performers
To keep pace with our rapid growth, we
added nearly 2,000 associates in 1996,
ending the year with 5,800 employees.
We are especially proud that we com-
Our success in inte-
grating information
technology into every
aspect of our business
earned Capital One
the Gartner Group’s
1996 Excellence in
Technology Award.
The combination of
our strategy and our
conservatism was
critical to our record
performance in a
difficult year for the
credit card business.