Capital One Review 2023 | Bankrate (2024)

At a glance

Capital One Bank is among the 10 largest U.S. banks by assets. While it offers branches in a handful of states, customers can access accounts online from just about anywhere. The bank offers high rates on its savings and CD accounts, and a free checking account that pays interest. There are no balance minimums or monthly fees, and you won’t need to worry about overdraft fees either.

Customer support

Physical presence. Capital One has nearly 300 branches in select states for in-person banking, and it operates around 50 Capital One Cafés, where customers can open accounts, deposit cash and checks. Customers can also access more than 70,000 ATMs through Capital One's owned-and-operated machines, and the Allpoint and MoneyPass networks. Mobile app users can take advantage of the Add Cash in Store feature to deposit cash at CVS stores through a cashier.

Customer service hours. Customers with deposit accounts can reach out to representatives over the phone daily from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET. Automated services, including Capital One’s digital assistant Eno, are available 24/7.

High customer satisfaction. Capital One scored highly in overall customer satisfaction among online-only banks for its checking product, according to J.D. Power’s 2023 Direct Banking Satisfaction Study. Though satisfaction for its savings product was below average, Capital One was named the best big bank as part of the 2023 Bankrate Awards.

Digital experience

Highly rated mobile app. Capital One’s mobile app, which has been reviewed by more than 9 million users, earned high marks on the Android and iOS app stores. The bank was the first in the U.S. to launch a skill for Amazon’s Alexa so that customers can voice commands to search for information, such as bank account balances. All this noted, a Bankrate staff member with a Capital One account noted that the app lacked useful breakdowns of spending and saving patterns; instead, there’s just a very basic money in, money out module.

Digital assistant. Capital One has a digital assistant called Eno. which you can use on the app or over text. Eno can be used to check your balance, recent transactions, available credit and payment dates. It can also be used to activate, lock or replace a card and even pay bills. “Eno is very easy to use and I found it helpful when trying to find information on how to set up Apple Pay,” said a Bankrate staff member with a Capital One account. “Although when I asked it to explain how early direct deposit works, it couldn’t come up with an answer.”

Complaints

Data breach fine. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a U.S. bank regulator, ordered Capital One to pay an $80 million fine because the bank failed to ”establish effective risk assessment processes prior to migrating significant information technology operations to the public cloud environment.” Moreover, the bank failed to correct these deficiencies in a timely manner, resulting in a massive data breach of their customer’s information in 2019.

The banking unit of Capital One Financial Corp. offers checking, savings and certificates of deposit. Richard Fairbank and Nigel Morris started building Capital One (then as a unit of Signet Bank) in 1988. In 1994, Capital One spun off under its name, offering credit cards. In 2012, Capital One acquired ING Direct and rebranded the lender as Capital One 360.

Capital One is ideal for consumers looking for a full-service bank with a wide network of no-fee ATMs and access to physical branches.

Capital One operates almost 300 branches in Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Capital One and Chase are both big banks that maintain some branches and also offer options for digital account management. While Capital One offers nearly 300 branches in a handful of states, Chase operates more than 4,900 branches, with locations in nearly every state.

When it comes to rates, Capital One’s 360 Performance Savings Account pays an APY that’s more than 400 times greater than the rock-bottom yield of the Chase Savings account. Likewise, Capital One’s CD rates are higher than those of Chase, including the higher relationship CD rates Chase offers to customers who also have a Chase checking account.

As far as checking accounts, Capital One’s 360 Checking account earns interest, whereas Chase’s Total Checking account is non-interest bearing. A non-sufficient funds fee is charged by Chase, while Capital One no longer charges one. Capital One doesn’t charge for overdrafts, and Chase won’t charge for them either as long as a customer’s account isn’t overdrawn by more than $50.