FALLS CHURCH, Va., Sept. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Capital One today announced that it is a recipient of the 2000 CIO 100 award for the second year in a row. The 2000 award recognizes organizations around the world that set the standard for excellence, innovation and improved business performance in customer relationship management.

According to Abbie Lundberg, CIO Editor-in-Chief, "Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a way for large organizations to gain the depth of understanding of their customers that comes naturally to smaller, local businesses. It helps them build customer satisfaction and loyalty, tighten their marketing focus, and significantly increase revenues. However, while the promise of CRM is tantalizing, it takes a tremendous commitment to get there. This year's CIO 100 honorees have demonstrated excellence in one or more of the critical areas of managing the customer relationship."

"Our company was founded on the idea that every customer has different wants, needs and interests," said Marge Connelly, Senior Vice President of Domestic Card Operations. "It's the mission of every person at Capital One to meet our customers' needs. By bringing exceptional value to every interaction, we're building lifetime relationships with our customers."

CIO magazine cited Capital One as an example of a company that has successfully aligned its operations to make the customer central to its business. This alignment has created a five-year compound annual growth rate of 36% in its customer base and has helped create a number of new customer programs which, for example, have encouraged call center associates to reach out to customers who are suddenly affected by natural disasters.

"More than 20,000 new customers are joining Capital One every day because of our ability to provide the right product to the right customer at the right time and at the right price," said Laura Olle, Senior Business Information Officer responsible for IT development and business partner relationships. "Our vibrant, collaborative culture enables IT, operations and marketing professionals to work together to solve customer problems and innovate new products very rapidly."

This year's CIO 100 Awards were based on the recommendations of a judging panel of nine industry experts and a vote held among a team of ten CIO magazine editors and writers to select winners. Other companies on the list include Amazon.com, Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Dell Computer Corp., E-Trade Inc., FedEx Corp., Lands' End, and Starbucks Coffee Co. Complete coverage of the 2000 CIO 100 awards is featured in the August 15 issue of CIO magazine and at www.cio.com .

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 27.1 million accounts and $21.9 billion in managed loans outstanding as of June 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 the Capital One Financial Corporation, 804-934-5910 or email: mark.andrews@capitalone.com/