Capital One 2010 Annual Report Download - page 30

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EMPLOYEES
A central part of our philosophy is to attract and retain a highly capable staff. We employed approximately 27,826 employees, whom
we refer to as “associates,” as of December 31, 2010. We view current associate relations to be satisfactory, and none of our associates
is covered under a collective bargaining agreement.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Geographic Diversity
Our consumer loan portfolios, including credit cards, are diversified across the United States with modest concentration in New York,
New Jersey, Louisiana, and Texas. We also have credit card loans in the U.K. and Canada. Our commercial loans are concentrated in
New York, New Jersey, Louisiana and Texas. See “MD&A—Risk Management” and “Note 22—Significant Concentration of Credit
Risk” for additional information.
Technology/Systems
We leverage information technology to achieve our business objectives and to develop and deliver products and services that satisfy
our customers’ needs. A key part of our strategic focus is the development of efficient, flexible computer and operational systems to
support complex marketing and account management strategies, the servicing of our customers, and the development of new and
diversified products. We believe that the continued development and integration of these systems is an important part of our efforts to
reduce costs, improve quality and provide faster, more flexible technology services. Consequently, we continuously review
capabilities and develop or acquire systems, processes and competencies to meet our unique business requirements.
As part of our continuous efforts to review and improve our technologies, we may either develop such capabilities internally or rely on
third party outsourcers who have the ability to deliver technology that is of higher quality, lower cost, or both. Over time, we have
increasingly relied on third party outsourcers to help us deliver systems and operational infrastructure. These relationships include (but
are not limited to): Total System Services Inc. (“TSYS”) for processing services for Capital One’s North American and United
Kingdom portfolios of consumer and small business credit card accounts, Fidelity National Information Services (“Fidelity”) for the
Capital One banking systems, and IBM Corporation for management of our North American data centers.
Intellectual Property
As part of our overall and ongoing strategy to protect and enhance our intellectual property, we rely on a variety of protections,
including copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents and certain restrictions on disclosure, solicitation, and competition. We also
undertake other measures to control access to and distribution of our other proprietary information. Despite these precautions, it may
be possible for a third party to copy or otherwise obtain and use certain intellectual property or proprietary information without
authorization. Our precautions may not prevent misappropriation or infringement of our intellectual property or proprietary
information. In addition, our competitors and other third parties also file patent applications for innovations that are used in our
industry. The ability of our competitors and other third parties to obtain such patents may adversely affect our ability to compete.
Conversely, our ability to obtain such patents may increase our competitive advantage. There can be no assurance that we will be
successful in such efforts, or that the ability of our competitors to obtain such patents may not adversely impact our financial results.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
From time to time, we have made and will make forward-looking statements, including those that discuss, among other things,
strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; projections, revenues, income, returns, accruals for claims in litigation and
for other claims against us; earnings per share or other financial measures for us; future financial and operating results; our plans,
objectives, expectations and intentions; and the assumptions that underlie these matters. To the extent that any such information is
forward-looking, it is intended to fit within the safe harbor for forward-looking information provided by the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Numerous factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from those described in such
forward-looking statements, including, among other things:
● general economic and business conditions in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, or our local markets, including conditions affecting
employment levels, interest rates, consumer income and confidence, spending and savings that may affect consumer bankruptcies,
defaults, charge-offs and deposit activity;
● an increase or decrease in credit losses (including increases due to a worsening of general economic conditions in the credit
environment);