MCLEAN, Va., Jun 01, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- As hurricane season approaches, Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) today released disaster-planning guidelines and a checklist to help small businesses prepare for emergency situations.

The checklist provides details to help small businesses:

-- Develop a continuity plan that addresses post-disaster recovery procedures;

-- Consider alternative operational locations;

-- Equip backup operations sites with critical equipment, data files and supplies;

-- Safeguard property;

-- Gather current contact information for employees, vendors and customers;

-- Develop multiple and reliable communication methods to reach employees;

-- Communicate details of the plan to employees;

-- Let customers and vendors know the business' plan and what to expect from the business;

-- Develop a detailed action plan in the event of a mandatory evacuation; and

-- Prepare for emergency cash management to handle cash flow.

"It is important that small business owners take the necessary precautions to allow business continuity in the event of an emergency situation," said Dave Wasik, senior vice president of Small Business at Capital One. "Business owners should address chief concerns including meeting payroll obligations, paying bills, restoring critical technology and communicating with employees, customers and suppliers."

The Capital One Small Business web site (www.capitalone.com/smallbusiness) also contains additional information and business tips to help them operate more effectively and efficiently. Direct deposit, online bill pay and corporate credit cards are just a few of the tools that businesses can explore.

Capital One also offers the following planning recommendations to help businesses plan and prepare for potential emergencies:

-- Transport physical records when a business evacuates. Records should always be kept where they can be removed quickly and easily to a safe location.

-- Conduct a disaster-plan-building exercise with key employees.

-- Identify which aspects of operations can be suspended temporarily and which must be maintained. List the business tools they will need to perform operations essential to sustaining business during a disaster and the recovery period that follows.

-- Review communications capabilities for maintaining contact with employees. E-mail and text messaging should play a large role in employee communications planning.

Editor's Note: Checklist located at bottom of press release.

About Capital One

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company, with more than 316 locations in Texas and Louisiana. Its principal subsidiaries, Capital One Bank, Capital One, F.S.B., Capital One Auto Finance, Inc., and Capital One, N.A., offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One's subsidiaries collectively had $47.8 billion in deposits and $103.9 billion in managed loans outstanding as of March 31, 2006. Capital One, a Fortune 500 company, trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 500 index.

Capital One offers a range of products to meet small business needs, including small business credit cards, small business loans and lines of credit, and small business savings accounts. As the largest issuer of small business Visa credit cards, and the third largest lender of SBA loans, Capital One provides specialized support designed to make it easier for small business customers to manage their finances so that they can focus on what's important to them. Capital One small business products are available via direct mail, capitalone.com, phone (877.561.9847) and fax.

                 BUSINESS DISASTER PLANNING CHECKLIST
                 ------------------------------------

    Planning Before a Hurricane or Other Disaster Arrives is Key to
                          Business Survival.

    These guidelines help businesses develop a strategy to minimize
                         damage and lost time.

Develop a business continuity / disaster recovery plan.

--  Establish a disaster-recovery team of employees who know your
    business best, and assign responsibilities for specific tasks.

--  Identify your risks (kinds of disasters you're most likely to
    experience).

--  Prioritize critical business functions and how quickly these must
    be recovered.

--  Establish a disaster-recovery location where employees may work
    off-site and access critical back-up systems, records and
    supplies.

--  Obtain temporary housing for key employees, their families and
    pets.

--  Update and test your plan at least annually.


Alternative operational locations. Determine which alternatives are
available:

--  A satellite or branch office of your business.

--  The office of a business partner or even an employee.

--  Home or hotel.


Backup site. Equip your backup operations site with critical
equipment, data files and supplies:

--  Power generators.

--  Computers and software.

--  Critical computer data files (payroll, accounts payable and
    receivable, customer orders, inventory).

--  Phones/radios/TVs.

--  Equipment and spare parts.

--  Vehicles, boats and spare parts.

--  Digital cameras.

--  Common supplies.

--  Supplies unique to your business (order forms, contracts, etc.).

--  Basic first aid/sanitary supplies, potable water and food.


Safeguard your property. Is your property prepared to survive a
hurricane or other disaster:

--  Your building?

--  Your equipment?

--  Your computer systems?

--  Your company vehicles?

--  Your company records?

--  Other company assets?


Contact information. Do you have current and multiple contact
information (e.g., home and cell phone numbers, personal email
addresses) for:

--  Employees?

--  Key customers?

--  Important vendors, suppliers, business partners?

--  Insurance companies?

--  Is contact information accessible electronically for fast access
    by all employees?


Communications. Do you have access to multiple and reliable methods of
communicating with your employees:

--  Emergency toll-free hotline?

--  Web site?

--  Cell phones?

--  Satellite phones?

--  Pagers?

--  BlackBerry(TM)?

--  Two-way radios?

--  Internet?

--  Email?


Employee preparation. Make sure your employees know:

--  Company emergency plan.

--  Where they should relocate to work.

--  How to use and have access to reliable methods of communication,
    such as satellite/cell phones, email, voice mail, Internet, text
    messages, BlackBerry(TM), PDAs.

--  How they will be notified to return to work.

--  Benefits of direct deposit of payroll and subscribe to direct
    deposit.

--  Emergency company housing options available for them and their
    family.


Customer preparation. Make sure your key customers know:

--  Your emergency contact information for sales and service support
    (publish on your Web site).

--  Your backup business or store locations (publish on your Web
    site).

--  What to expect from your company in the event of a prolonged
    disaster displacement.

--  Alternate methods for placing orders.

--  Alternate methods for sending invoice payments in the event of
    mail disruption.


Evacuation order. When a mandatory evacuation is issued, be prepared
to grab and leave with critical office records and equipment:

--  Company disaster-recovery plan and checklist.

--  Insurance policies and company contracts.

--  Company checks, plus a list of all bank accounts, credit cards,
    ATM cards.

--  Employee payroll and contact information.

--  Desktop/laptop computers.

--  Customer records, including orders in progress.

--  Photographs/digital images of your business property.

--  Post disaster contact info inside your business to alert emergency
    workers how to reach you.

--  Secure your building and property.


Cash management. Be prepared to meet emergency cash-flow needs:

--  Take your checkbook and credit cards in the event of an
    evacuation.

--  Keep enough cash on hand to handle immediate needs.

--  Use Internet banking services to monitor account activity, manage
    cash flow, initiate wires, pay bills.

--  Issue corporate cards to essential personnel to cover emergency
    business expenses.

--  Reduce dependency on paper checks and postal service to send and
    receive payments (consider using electronic payment and remote
    deposit banking services).


Post-disaster recovery procedures.

--  Consider how your post-disaster business may differ from today.

--  Plan whom you will want to contact and when.

--  Assign specific tasks to responsible employees.

--  Track progress and effectiveness.

--  Document lessons learned and best practices.

For more business continuity planning tips, visit the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security Web site at www.ready.gov/business.

SOURCE: Capital One Financial Corporation

Capital One Financial Corporation, McLean
Pam Girardo, 703-720-2351
pam.girardo@capitalone.com