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Capital One

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Contents3
  1. Consumer impact summary
  2. Controversies
  3. References
Capital One
Basic information
Founded July 21, 1994
Legal Structure Public
Industry Finance
Also known as
Official website https://capitalone.com

Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company founded on July 21, 1994, and specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in McLean, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States.[1]

In May 2018, the company acquired Confyrm, a digital identity and fraud alert service.[2]

In November 2018, Capital One acquired Wikibuy, a shopping comparison app and browser extension from an Austin, Texas start-up business.[3]

Consumer impact summary

Capital One has been involved in several controversies, including misleading customers with unnecessary add-ons, a major data breach exposing sensitive information, and deceptive practices related to savings accounts that cost customers billions in lost interest. The company has also faced backlash for sponsoring flawed content and using copyright claims to suppress criticism.

Controversies

  • In July 2012, Capital One was fined by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for misleading millions of its customers, for example by requiring customers to pay extra for payment protection or credit monitoring when they took out a card.[4] The company agreed to pay $210 million to settle the legal action and to refund two million customers.[5]
  • In September 2018, Capital One sponsored a tutorial on how to build a computer alongside The Verge that had multiple errors titled "How to Build a Custom PC for Editing, Gaming or Coding", and the video was removed due to backlash from the community.[6] In 2019, The Verge filed a DMCA take-down notice to YouTube to remove all reposts of the original video, alleging copyright infringement. YouTube took down two of the videos, uploaded by YouTube channels BitWit and ReviewTechUSA, while applying a copyright "strike" to these two channels.[7]
  • In July 2019, Capital One publicly acknowledged a data breach of credit scores, credit limits, balances, payment history, and contact information of around 100 million clients.[8]
  • In January 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) accused Capital One of cheating savings account holders out of $2 billion in interest payments by "deceptive, abusive and illegal" practices which obscured the difference between the high-interest "360 Performance Savings" accounts vs. low-interest "360 Savings" accounts. Capital One forbade its employees to volunteer information about or marketing 360 Performance Savings to existing customers.[9] In February of 2025, the CFPB under the Trump administration dismissed this action with prejudice.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION". SEC. Archived from the original on 8 Jul 2025. Retrieved 16 Mar 2025.
  2. ↑ Perez, Sarah (11 May 2018). "Capital One acquires digital identity and fraud alert startup Confyrm". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 24 Jul 2025. Retrieved 16 Mar 2025.
  3. ↑ Son, Hugh (20 Nov 2018). "Capital One buys tech start-up used by millions to price-check while shopping on Amazon". CNBC. Archived from the original on 28 Feb 2025. Retrieved 16 Mar 2025.
  4. ↑ "Capital One fined for misleading millions of customers". BBC. 18 Jul 2012. Archived from the original on 8 Jul 2025. Retrieved 16 Mar 2025.
  5. ↑ "FORM 8-K" (PDF). SEC. 18 Jul 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 Aug 2025. Retrieved 16 Mar 2025.
  6. ↑ Lanstrifer (12 Dec 2018). "The Verge PC Build Video - Original File [1080p]". YouTube. Archived from the original on 16 Feb 2026. Retrieved 16 Mar 2025.
  7. ↑ Lee, Timothy B. (19 Feb 2019). "Vox lawyers briefly censored YouTubers who mocked The Verge's bad PC build advice". ArsTechnica. Archived from the original on 3 Feb 2026. Retrieved 16 Mar 2025.
  8. ↑ "Information on the Capital One cyber incident". CapitalOne. 19 Jul 2019. Archived from the original on 13 Jan 2026. Retrieved 16 Mar 2025.
  9. ↑ Copeland, Rob (14 Jan 2025). "Capital One Is Accused of Cheating Customers Out of $2 Billion". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 Aug 2025. Retrieved 16 Mar 2025.
  10. ↑ Grantham-Philips, Wyatte (28 Feb 2025). "The CFPB drops its enforcement lawsuits against Capital One, Rocket Homes and more". APNews. Archived from the original on 20 Oct 2025. Retrieved 16 Mar 2025.
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