Capital One Reports Card Chargeoffs, Delinquencies Down

Capital One Financial Corp. reported Wednesday that delinquencies and chargeoffs at its U.S. credit card business fell in July from the month earlier.

Capital One's 30-day delinquency rate for U.S. credit cards fell to 3.09% last month from 3.16% in June, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. At its international credit card business, the rate decreased to 4.78% from 4.84% a month earlier. Auto loan delinquencies rose to 5.75% from 5.55%.

Chargeoffs and delinquencies have been recovering at many financial institutions but the progress has been unsteady.

At Capital One, chargeoffs at the U.S. card business fell to 2.62% in July from 3.41% a month earlier. Internationally, the rate fell to 4.97% from 5.16% a month earlier. Auto financing chargeoffs were slightly down at 1.55% from 1.54%.

Capital One, which transformed from a credit card lender to a bank just before the financial crisis hit, has lately benefited from improving credit quality and has been working to expand through acquisitions.

Last month, Capital One - as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency - said it will pay $12 million to thousands of military customers it overcharged for loans and improperly foreclosed upon.

Also in July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued its first enforcement action, ordering Capital One to pay $165 million for what the agency described as deceptive marketing tactics related to various credit card products.