Capital One 2014 Annual Report Download - page 23

PART I
Item 1. Business
OVERVIEW
General
Capital One Financial Corporation, a Delaware Corporation established in 1994 and headquartered in McLean,
Virginia, is a diversified financial services holding company with banking and non-banking subsidiaries. Capital
One Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) offer a broad array of financial products and services
to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through branches, the internet and other distribution channels.
As of December 31, 2014, our principal subsidiaries included:
• Capital One Bank (USA), National Association (“COBNA”), which offers credit and debit card products, other
lending products and deposit products; and
• Capital One, National Association (“CONA”), which offers a broad spectrum of banking products and financial
services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients.
The Company is hereafter collectively referred to as “we,” “us” or “our.” COBNA and CONA are collectively
referred to as the “Banks.” References to “this Report” or our “2014 Form 10-K” or “2014 Annual Report” are to
our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014. All references to 2014, 2013, 2012,
2011, and 2010 refer to our fiscal years ended, or the dates, as the context requires, December 31, 2014,
December 31, 2013, December 31, 2012, December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively. Certain
business terms used in this document are defined in the “Glossary and Acronyms” and should be read in conjunction
with the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report.
As one of the nation’s ten largest banks based on deposits as of December 31, 2014, we service banking customer
accounts through the internet and branch locations across New York, Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, New
Jersey and District of Columbia. We also operate the largest online direct banking institution in the United States. In
addition to bank lending, treasury management and depository services, we offer credit and debit card products, auto
loans and mortgage banking in markets across the United States. We were the fourth largest issuer of Visa®(“Visa”)
and MasterCard®(“MasterCard”) credit cards in the United States based on the outstanding balance of credit card
loans as of December 31, 2014.
We also offer products outside of the United States principally through Capital One (Europe) plc (“COEP”), an
indirect subsidiary of COBNA organized and located in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”), and through a branch of
COBNA in Canada. COEP has authority, among other things, to provide credit card and installment loans. Our
branch of COBNA in Canada has the authority to provide credit card loans.
Recent Acquisitions and Dispositions
We regularly explore and evaluate opportunities to acquire financial services and financial assets, including credit
card and other loan portfolios, and enter into strategic partnerships as part of our growth strategy. We also explore
opportunities to acquire digital companies and related assets to improve our information technology infrastructure and
to deliver on our digital strategy. We also regularly consider the potential disposition of certain of our assets, branches,
partnership agreements or lines of businesses. We may issue equity or debt in connection with acquisitions, including
public offerings, to fund such acquisitions. We did not have any significant acquisitions or dispositions in 2014.
Below we provide information on acquisitions and dispositions completed in 2013.
1Capital One Financial Corporation (COF)