CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP

Table 5 displays the components of non-interest expense for the third quarter and first nine months of 2026 and 2025.

Table 5: Non-Interest Expense

(1)Includes expenses of $1 million and $77 million related to our deferred compensation plan investments for the third quarter and first nine months of 2026, respectively, and expenses of $46 million and $87 million related to our deferred compensation plan investments for the third quarter and first nine months of 2025, respectively. These amounts have corresponding offsets from investments in other non-interest income.

Non-interest expense increased by $593 million to $8.9 billion inthe third quarter of 2026 compared tothe third quarter of 2025 primarily driven by growth in our Card portfolio, including the addition of Brex, as well as continued investment in technology, and higher marketing spend. Non-interest expense increased by $5.2 billion to $26.4 billion in the first nine months of 2026 compared to the first nine months of 2025 primarily driven by growth in our Card portfolio inclusive of continued investment in technology and higher marketing spend, primarily due to the addition of Discover and Brex.

Integration Expenses

Discover integration expenses decreased by $10 million to $338 million in the third quarter of 2026 compared to the third quarter of 2025. Discover integration expenses increased by $294 million to $1.1 billion in the first nine months of 2026 compared to the first nine months of 2025 primarily driven by higher salaries and associate benefits, which are included within operating expense in our consolidated statements of income and within the Other category for business segment results. Since the announcement of the Transaction in the first quarter of 2024, we have incurred $2.4 billion of Discover integration expenses as of September 30, 2026.

In the third quarter and first nine months of 2026, we incurred $47 million and $143 million, respectively, of integration expenses related to the Brex acquisition primarily driven by salaries and associate benefits and professional services, which are included within operating expense in our consolidated statements of income and within Domestic Card for business segment results.

Income Taxes

We recorded an income tax expense of $1.0 billion (22.6% effective income tax rate) and $2.3 billion (21.2% effective income tax rate) in the third quarter and first nine months of 2026, respectively, compared to an income tax expense of $1.2 billion (27.1% effective income tax rate) and an income tax benefit of $152 million (negative 83.5% effective income tax rate) in the third quarter and first nine months of 2025, respectively. The difference in our tax provision and effective tax rate year over year was primarily driven by the impact of $8.8 billion initial allowance for credit losses on loans acquired in the Discover acquisition in the second quarter of 2025.

Our effective tax rate on income from continuing operations varies between periods due to the impact of changes in pre-tax income and changes in tax credits, tax-exempt income and non-deductible expenses relative to our pre-tax earnings.

We provide additional information on items affecting our income taxes and effective tax rate in “Part II—Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Note 16—Income Taxes” in our 2025 Form 10-K.