MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 2006--As Gulf Coast business owners, managers and employees plan for the 2006 hurricane season, Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) today released updated disaster-planning guidelines to help businesses prepare. Capital One also developed a disaster-planning checklist for businesses, which is located at the bottom of this news release.

    The checklist provides details to help 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.

"Until last year, many people believed that preparing for a disaster meant discussing what could happen, in a hypothetical case," said David Frady, Capital One's executive vice president of commercial products and services in Louisiana and Texas. "Now, we have an immediate past experience to help guide business preparations. The first thing to do in planning for 2006 is to ask 'What did we learn?'"

In the event of an emergency, chief concerns for many businesses include meeting payroll obligations, paying bills, restoring critical technology and communicating with employees, customers and suppliers. Capital One's TowerNet(SM) service - an Internet-based platform for treasury management services - was tested by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and successfully supported payroll and other operational needs critical to the bank's commercial clients.

The Capital One Web site also contains additional information and links to other technology solutions that allow a business to operate more effectively and efficiently in normal circumstances, or from a remote location in the event of evacuation. Direct deposit, online bill pay and corporate credit cards are just a few of the tools that businesses can explore.

"Every business should have a disaster plan in place that is tailored to its specific type of operations," Frady explained. "Specific needs can vary. Businesses that carry an extensive inventory might have one set of issues, while a service business might face different challenges. But access to money and records is critical to everyone."

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.

For more information on emergency planning and preparedness for your business, call toll-free 888-822-2274.

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.

                 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.

    CONTACT: Capital One Financial Corporation, McLean
             Steven Thorpe, 504-533-2753
             steven.thorpe@capitalonebank.com

    SOURCE: Capital One Financial Corporation