FALLS CHURCH, Va., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) today announced that it has received the award for being one of the nation's most innovative users of information technology by CMP Media's InformationWeek magazine and Cap Gemini Ernst and Young. Capital One ranked #18 in this year's listing.

The InformationWeek "Innovation 100: The Customer" is a listing of the top one hundred companies considered to be masters in combining information technology and business savvy to build profitable and successful customer relationships. This award falls hot on the heels of Capital One's nomination to the InformationWeek 500, which ranks companies on both the size and complexity of installed information technologies, as well as on the tangible business benefits created by technology.

"This award, in conjunction with the InformationWeek 500 listing, underlines our position as a leader in applying technology to marketing financial services and is testament to the ability of our 18,000 associates to think out of the box, be entrepreneurial and really add value to Capital One's bottom line," said Nigel Morris, President and COO.

"The Innovation 100: The Customer is one of the most prestigious honors an IT organization can receive and is especially important since everything we do in IT is ultimately driven by our desire to deliver superior products, services and value for our 30 million customers-both online and offline," said Marge Connelly, Senior VP, Domestic Card Operations and IT Operations.

The InformationWeek "Innovation 100: The Customer" measures the innovative ways in which companies utilize technology to gain a business advantage. InformationWeek editors and Cap Gemini Ernst and Young sought to identify and reward organizations that demonstrate a pattern of technological and business innovation. The research is considered critical to companies seeking to benchmark themselves against their vertical industry peers.

The award reinforces the Company's position as a first class, entrepreneurial place to work for IT professionals and is another indication that Capital One is committed to adding customer value through its innovative use of technology to market financial services.

"Our collaborative and innovative culture enables us to effectively partner with operations and marketing to work together on business initiatives and add value to the bottom line," said Laura Olle, Senior VP Systems Development and Senior Business Information Officer. "Ultimately, IT is the engine that drives our Information Based Strategy."

Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, Capital One Financial Corporation (www.CapitalOne.com) is a holding company whose principal subsidiaries, Capital One Bank and Capital One, F.S.B., offer consumer lending products. Capital One's subsidiaries collectively had 29.4 million accounts and $24.2 billion in managed loans outstanding as of September 30, 2000. Capital One is one of the major financial service providers on the Internet, with online account decisioning, real-time account numbering, online retail deposits and a growing number of customers serviced online. Capital One is a FORTUNE 500 company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 500 index. SOURCE Capital One Financial Corporation

CONTACT: Mark Andrews of Capital One Financial Corporation, 804-934-5910, or mark.andrews@capitalone.com/