Who owns Capital One?

Aquamania

I've just read that Skipton Building Society, which itself merged with Scarborough Building Society in March 2009, bought the savings book of Capital One Bank in June 2009.

Does anyone know if it was only the savings side of Capital One they bought, or does this mean Skipton are also behind Capital One credit cards in the UK?

antrobus

Aquamania wrote: »

....Does anyone know if it was only the savings side of Capital One they bought, or does this mean Skipton are also behind Capital One credit cards in the UK?

Skipton only bought the savings business. Capital One is ultimately owned by Capital One Financial Corp which is quoted on the NYSE.

Aquamania

Thanks - thats a relief

agrinnall

Aquamania wrote: »

Thanks - thats a relief

I have to ask - why?

Paul_1977

Capital One withdrew from other EU countries, they may well do here.

blink18

Paul_1977 wrote: »

Capital One withdrew from other EU countries, they may well do here.

credit card use over a lot of the EU is insignificant compared to here in the UK

Aquamania

agrinnall wrote: »

I have to ask - why?

It's a long, old story.

But the short version is that many, many years ago (in the days they refused to acknowledge the FOS scheme) I held a Capital One Credit Card and fell out with them.
Whilst they did eventually resolve the matter (after an LBA) I promised myself I would never use them again.

I have had savings with Skipton Building Society for a few years too, so was a little perturbed to discover the connection with Cap1, but as Skipton only bought their savings book, I can live with that.

cheesetoast

I get the feeling that Capital One may well pull out of the UK market soon - or at least close themselves to new customers. They've been cutting down their product range, and making themselves less attractive by the day.

planteria

i'm a long standing Skipton member. fwiw i have found CapitalOne's customer service to be far better than that from Skipton Building Society over the years.. utter incompetence from the latter, and dishonesty from some staff.

but yes, CapitalOne is a large American corporation. i've had cards with them over the years, and have earned some great cashback, but they have made their offer uncompetitive so i'm long gone. i hope they don't exit the UK market though. it would be one less player, and perhaps they will come back with something useful again:think:. exiting the UK market usually seems to mean 'sell the book to Barclaycard', so that would just be unhelpful (for consumers) consolidation.