Capital One
American credit card lender turned bank, and since buying Discover the country’s largest card issuer by balances.
5 figures on Capital One, drawn from 2 Modern MBA case studies.
The figures
US dollars1
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue of the big bank credit card divisions and the payment networks, 2024, in billions | $26B | 4th of 9 · top $61B | How credit card companies actually make money |
Percentages2
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin of the big banks’ credit card divisions · 2008 | 14% | 1st of 4 · top 14% | How credit card companies actually make money |
| Operating margin of the big banks’ credit card divisions · 2009 | 13% | 1st of 4 · top 13% | How credit card companies actually make money |
Counts2
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit cards in circulation by issuing bank, 2024, in millions | 107M | 2nd of 6 · top 154M | How credit card companies actually make money |
| US locations against the leading banks | 755 | 5th of 7 · top 60,000 | How Western Union makes money from the unbanked |
Case studies covering Capital One
Case study — FinanceHow credit card companies actually make moneyThe swipe fee is not the business. The interest is — and the networks taking the blame were founded by the banks collecting it.15 min read
Case study — FinanceHow Western Union makes money from the unbankedIt has more US locations than Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, Capital One, and Bank of America have branches combined.11 min readNew episodes
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