Capital One Financial Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference Summary

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : <_ALACRA_META_ABSTRACT>So Rich, Yeah. So I think this is our 16 straight year doing this. And I think each year, we've started a similar way. I didn't have hair when we started. Let's maybe just start with the state of the consumer. Can you talk about what you're seeing from the consumer and how they're positioned as we move into '26?

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Maybe just to bring that back to Capital One credit. You noted earnings that Credit Card performance was consistent with seasonality in the recent months. Maybe just talk about how you're thinking about overall credit in card and auto and maybe bifurcate between prime and subprime customers.

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : So Rich, let's shift gears now. We're seven months post the Discover acquisition closing. What are your impressions of what you purchased? What's going better? Where have there been challenges? And have there been any changes to your thoughts on the economics of the deal?

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : So maybe let's dig a little bit --

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : He takes the easy one. So Rich, maybe let's dig into the brownout a little bit. I think it's my third brownout over the years. I think the last one was recoveries. I think you mentioned on the earnings call, it could take several years to work through. So maybe can you talk about what are you trimming, maybe size how big the book that you're looking at may be? And does this prevent the broader card business from growing, knowing that you don't set growth targets within the company?

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : I'm not sure if this is going to be a question for you or Jeff, but maybe just talk a little bit about how revenue and expense synergies are progressing and when do you expect them to be in the run rate and any changes to expectations?

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : So I want to shift gears and talk a little bit about the network and broader investment and efficiency. So if you look over the last 12-plus years, you've redone the entire tech stack of the company. I remember when you introduced it here in 2013, you have real-time data, best-in-class technology. Before you begin to build out the international acceptance, which is a big thing that you've talked about, do you need to invest in the physical infrastructure of the network? And was that all factored into the deal upfront?

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : So they could be done in isolation of each other. So I think as a big part of the acquisition, you noted that you intended to bring, I think it was $175 billion of volume onto the Discover network in terms of both debit and credit. You talked before debit is happening right now. And I would assume credit obviously has a little bit of a longer tail. Can you maybe talk about the process of bringing over credit volume? And what is the end goal for you in terms of volume and issuing partners on your network?

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : So Rich, on the earnings call, you spent a lot of time talking about investments. You did mention a lot of them are not new, but they're accelerating marketing, technology, AI. We've gone through investment cycles before the tech investment cycle from '13 to '16 technology costs coming out of the pandemic. Maybe just think about -- I know you guys have been investing all along, but maybe just contextualize the pace or amount of investment this time relative to past investing cycles.

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Well, that was the start in terms of the increase of the operating expense.

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : So you talked about on the call that we should expect some near-term pressure on efficiency. Maybe you or Jeff just contextualize how we should expect the pressure as you make these investments? And once we're down the road through the integration, what do you see as sort of destination efficiency for the company?

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Maybe one last question because we started a little bit late here. You announced the $16 billion buyback, the biggest one you've announced in a while. How should we think about both using the $16 billion? And also, how do we think about the pace to getting towards that 11% capital target? Do you expect to run at a higher level during the integration period?

Question: Ryan M. Nash - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Awesome. Well, unfortunately, we're out of time, but please join me in thanking Rich and Jeff.