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Capital One Financial Corporation Capital One began as the credit card division of Signet Bank. Founders Richard Fairbank and Nigel Morris implemented their Great Idea for Information-Based Strategy at Signet, and by 1994 they grew the credit card division to the point where it accounted for half the value of the bank. At that point Fairbank and Morris split from Signet Bank, became their own credit card company, Capital One, and issued an IPO. Since then, the company has grown to become one of the largest credit card companies in the United States, with $20 billion in outstanding loans and 27 million accounts by 2000. In the following report, I will address issues surrounding the success of Capital One, such as: „h Does Capital One enjoy a competitive advantage? „h How was competitive advantage achieved? „h Why were the opportunities identified by Signet / Capital One first exploited by a relative outsider -- a small regional bank under the guidance of consultants rather than bankers? „h Is the advantage sustainable? Can other banks erode the advantage? „h What are some of the other applications of Capital One's information-based strategy? Does Capital One enjoy a competitive advantage? Capital One,