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NEW YORK -- Credit card giant Capital One Financial Corp. has diversified its business by purchasing banks that have active mortgage units lately, and that's a good thing, an analyst at A.G. Edwards says.
Capital One is the nation's fifth largest bank card issuer, ranked by managed credit card loans. The company managed $106 billion of credit card loans at the end of last year, A.G. Edwards noted in a recent report.
"Capital One has grown rapidly by applying its proprietary database-driven mass marketing technique named Information-Based Strategy," analyst Paul Hamilos said in a report on the company.
He said that strategy should continue to help Capital One achieve "competitive advantage in finding profitable segments in consumer finance," particularly in automobile financing and installment loans.
He also noted that the company is expanding internationally with units in the United Kingdom and Canada.
Capital One's recent acquisitions of Hibernia and North Fork, both of which have experience in the mortgage industry, also work in the company's favor, Mr. Hamilos wrote. The $14.6 billion deal to acquire North Fork has yet to close.
Capital One recently announced a $2 million affordable housing venture to serve Texas and Louisiana, demonstrating the company's interest in housing finance in the wake of the Hibernia deal.