Capital One continued to overhaul its technology stack in the second quarter as its AI investments picked up while integrating AI-native spend management platform Brex.  

As part of its overhaul “from the bottom of the tech stack up,” the $683 billion bank is investing in “very powerful foundational capabilities as well as AI infrastructure and specific AI experiences,” Chief Executive Richard Fairbank said during its Q2 earnings call on July 21.  

Capital One’s nonprime card business continues to grow largely because of investments in technology, data, machine learning and AI, Fairbank said.

“This part of the marketplace is all about data, analytics, modeling, and that is a power alley of Capital One.”  

— Richard Fairbank, CEO, Capital One

“While the marketing investment isn’t maybe the highest in that part of the marketplace, there’s a lot of focus in our tech and data and AI investments to be able to be even more successful in that underserved part of the market,” he said. 

Capital One’s credit card revenue increased 29.4% YoY in Q2 to $11.8 billion, and it rose 3.3% quarter over quarter, according to its earnings presentation. 

Brex integration  

Capital One completed its $5.2 billion acquisition of Brex in Q2 and integrated the fintech into its domestic card business, which provided “modest tailwinds” to the bank’s 14% YoY jump in legacy product purchases, including corporate credit cards, Fairbank said.  

Brex is a seamless fit because its modular technology stack allows the bank to immediately begin “mobilizing” solutions without full integration of the company, he said.  

Brex, which uses AI to automate and manage corporate finances, benefits from “the cost of funds impact of moving to our balance sheet,” Fairbank said, adding that the bank has created a program to “share high-potential leads from across our businesses with Brex” that show “very promising early results at the outset.” 

“They’ve got a tiger by the tail.” he said. “They are going after three markets at once — the commercial card market, the payables marketplace and the expense management business. 

“They’re going after it with an integrated solution. Strikingly, that solution is something that is needed from small companies all the way to large corporations. It’s an amazingly large market.” 

BY THE NUMBERS: McLean, Va.-based Capital One reported in Q2:

• Net revenue that increased 26.9% year over year to $15.9 billion;
• An efficiency ratio that was 57.1%, up from 56% in Q2 2025;
• A headcount of 78,400, up from 76,500 a year ago; and
• Net income that totaled $3 billion, compared with a $4.3 billion loss in Q2 2025. 

Expenses tied to the integrations of Brex and Discover, which it acquired last year, contributed to the worsened efficiency ratio, Fairbank said.  

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