Earned & PaidCapital One
Capital One spent $5.88B on advertising and marketing in fiscal 2025, up 29.0% on the year before and +159% since 2019.
Marketing spend by year
Bars: advertising and marketing expense, $B (10-K).
What they told investors
“We expect to increasingly lean into marketing to take advantage of these compelling market opportunities.”Richard Fairbank · 2026 Q1 · transcript
“Fourth quarter marketing will likely be somewhat above recent seasonal patterns.”Quarterly Dividend Increase · 2025 Q3 · transcript
“And so, we absolutely want to nurture this and invest in this.”Quarterly Dividend Increase · 2025 Q3 · transcript
“As always, all of our marketing and origination choices are informed by our continuous monitoring of portfolio trends, market conditions, and consumer and competitor behaviors.”Richard Fairbank · 2025 Q2 · transcript
“But there's a reason they're investing hard because there is a great opportunity at the at the top of the market, and it's not an opportunity that is available widely to, you know, all the credit card companies that requires a lot of sustained investment and brand building and…”Richard Fairbank · 2025 Q2 · transcript
Say vs do
Capital One's management has talked about its marketing budget, but in ways annual filings can't check: one quarter, one brand or channel, or the mix.
What they said
“We expect to increasingly lean into marketing to take advantage of these compelling market opportunities.”
Richard Fairbank on the 2026 Q1 earnings call, Apr 21, 2026 · transcript
Can't tell from annual filings It's about part of a year; filings report full years.
“Fourth quarter marketing will likely be somewhat above recent seasonal patterns.”
Quarterly Dividend Increase, Expected to rise from $0.60 to $0.80 per share starting in Q4, subject to board approval. on the 2025 Q3 earnings call, Oct 21, 2025 · transcript
Can't tell from annual filings It's about part of the business; filings report one company-wide number.
“As always, all of our marketing and origination choices are informed by our continuous monitoring of portfolio trends, market conditions, and consumer and competitor behaviors.”
Richard Fairbank on the 2025 Q2 earnings call, Jul 23, 2025 · transcript
Can't tell from annual filings It's about part of the business; filings report one company-wide number.
What they did
| Year | Marketing spend | Change | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $5.88B | +29.0% | |
| FY2024 | $4.56B | +13.8% | |
| FY2023 | $4.01B | -0.2% | |
| FY2022 | $4.02B | +39.9% | |
| FY2021 | $2.87B | +78.3% | |
| FY2020 | $1.61B | -29.2% |
Against its peers. Compared with the 3 other Finance advertisers we track (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, American Express): since 2019 its marketing spend went +159% (peer median +40%); last year +29.0% (median +11.2%).
How we check: a statement gets a verdict only when it's clearly about the size of the whole company's marketing budget over a full fiscal year; we compare it with the advertising and marketing expense in that year's 10-K. Statements about one quarter, one brand or channel, or the mix between brand and performance can't be checked against annual filings.
What they say about media
The marketing channels it talks about using for itself on earnings calls and in its 10-Ks and 10-Qs, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- AI in marketing “Our new marketing platforms are -- part of the reason that we're investing more these days in marketing is really the power of mass customized, machine learning-driven marketing.” Rich Fairbank on the earnings call · Oct 28, 2022 · source
- Creative campaigns · Linear TV “And that was a little word-of-mouth thing till we put it on national TV in the last few months.” Rich Fairbank on the earnings call · Oct 27, 2021 · source
- Measurement “I know usually you don't give numbers for that, but it would be helpful to understand the benefit that those marketing dollars is generating today and then how much more you think the opportunity set is here to ramp up the marketing in the back half of the year given the…” Betsy Graseck on the earnings call · Jul 23, 2021 · source
What they see in the market
What its leaders and filings say about the ad market: its own ad business, or the channels advertisers use, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- Affiliate & lead gen “Over the coming months, as we test and learn, we're going to start leaning in with marketing dollars and sharing some of the high potential leads and the benefits of big databases that we have built and then a little bit more down the road.” Richard Fairbank on the earnings call · Apr 21, 2026 · source