Capital One Review 2024 | 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.

Capital One was named best big bank and best bank for ATM access as part of the 2024 Bankrate Awards, which recognizes the best financial products available to consumers.

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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, as well as deposit cash and checks. Customers can also access more than 70,000 fee-free 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 and Walgreens stores through a cashier.

Customer service hours. Deposit account holders 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.

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 commented 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 interact with 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 and savings accounts, as well as CDs. 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 competitive yields, a highly rated banking app and access to a wide network of no-fee ATMs.

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

Learn more:Capital One CD rates

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 4,700 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. Capital One doesn’t charge for overdrafts, while Chase may charge up to three such fees each day. Neither bank charges a non-sufficient funds fee.

Learn more:The best banks of 2024