Richard Fairbank
Management
Brian, I think, I was writing it down as you were doing it, going over credit, and yes, the line increases. I mean, again, we’re still in the overall motive of cautious where we’re in the economy, but line increases, check. I would add continuing bullishness about the marketing and the success, the traction in the card business overall. Interest rates, now again, on interest rates, it’s hard to be bullish on that. But, we are -- relative to the some of the seismic impacts that have happened in interest rates, I think the combination of how the market’s responding and the tools that we have in our portfolio to adapt, I think, we have increasing bullishness about that. Operating expenses, if you pull up the kind of -- our point was that we got delta curve ball that wasn’t in our plans, when we announced the 42x21. I remember the meeting when we first -- somebody brought in, well, this is going to be the impact, the sort of gross impact of this on what could be with respect to revenues on interest rates. And after we caught our breath, we continued to just work incredibly hard and the traction on operating expenses and all matters around the efficiency ratio continues to be positive such that despite the interest rate move, we are continuing to reaffirm our guidance of the capital. There is a strong excess capital thing position there. And the other one I would add on the list is the continued -- you can feel it inside the Company. It’s hard for the outside world to see this, partly because we don’t always proclaim some of the things that are proprietary that we’re doing. But, the tech transformation that started at the bottom of the technology stack, a place that is the hardest work, shows the least immediate payoff. And in fact if you selectively transform yourself in the bottom of the technology stack, it doesn’t really do much for you. But I’ve said over the years, and in the end, I know really the proof ultimately is in the pudding and what investors see. But, what I want to say is it’s a very the unusual thing that Capital One has done by so heavily starting at the bottom of the tech stack and working up. I think, most companies when they do the tech transformation start at the top of the tech stack, meaning innovating on the part of the technology that is customer or associate facing. And it’s very natural thing to do because that’s by definition the only thing that people can see and that’s where competitors put pressure, customers are clamoring, et cetera. But, we have been transforming from the bottom of the technology stack. But as we continue to move up the tech stack, more and more will be visible over time, the benefits will become greater, the agility greater and the opportunity to create great things at the top of the tech stack, the ability to transform how we work, the ability to make some significant differentiated capabilities on the risk management side, and ultimately to create a great customer experience and better and better economics. That is what we’ve been driving for, for years. And I think we continue to have a bullishness about that. So, what’s the yikers is along the way is just a lot of work. There are a lot of things that happen on the way to work but this is we continue to feel an increase in momentum on these things that are long time in the making, but I think, they are at the heart of winning in the very different place where the world is going.