Banking and financial services company Capital One Financial Corp. announced Tuesday that it will lay off about 950 people in Plano, Texas, as it exits the mortgage and home equity business and closes a call center.
The McLean, Virginia-based company has businesses across the financial universe, from credit cards to checking and savings accounts. Two of its businesses — auto finance and mortgage and home equity — are based in Plano.
But the company said Tuesday that it’s been too challenging for the company to stay competitive and turn a profit in the mortgage business.
It will close the home loan business and lay off about 750 people in Plano who are part of it.
About 155 additional employees will be laid off in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and Melville, New York.
Capital One will continue to service its existing and pending home loans, but it will not write new loans.
In an email to employees on Tuesday, Capital One’s president of financial services, Sanjiv Yajnik, said the mortgage and home equity “businesses are in a structurally disadvantaged position, given the challenging rate environment and marketplace.”
Yajnik said in the email that auto finance has “an incredible future,” and he will share more about the company’s growth plans for that soon.
Capital One’s retail banking division is also closing a Plano call center, which employs about 200 people. Company officials say they’ve seen a decline in call volume as more customers have turned to the mobile app, bank branches or other channels for their banking needs. The call center will answer calls until early summer 2018.
Even after the cuts, Capital One will have a large presence in Plano. It will have more than 5,000 employees, with most in auto finance and some in credit cards and retail banking, company spokeswoman Prachi Purohit said.
Employees who lose their jobs can apply for other Capital One openings, she said. They will receive severance and job placement assistance. Capital One’s Plano office will host an on-site career development center with interview practice, coaching and resume writing assistance. It will also host information sessions about internal openings and a job fair with employers from the home loan industry.
