Opening up a bank account can be both scary and exciting. For many, it is their first step into the financial system, which is why it's important that banks build trust from an early age.
One way that Capital One does this is by equipping its customers with credit building resources, like secured credit cards and free access to CreditWise, a service that allows users to track their credit progress. According to the Virginia-based bank, more than 42 million Capital One customers have achieved prime or better FICO scores, despite having subprime or no FICO scores when they first opened their accounts.
"Whether a customer is financially established or just beginning their financial journey, we believe that everyone deserves a bank that actively works to help them achieve their goals, and we look directly to our customers, and communities as partners as we deliver on that promise," Andy Navarrete, Capital One Financial's head of external affairs, told Newsweek. "This commitment is why customer satisfaction has been at the highest levels in Capital One's history."
Capital One recently made Newsweek's fourth annual ranking of the Most Trustworthy Companies in America 2025—and climbed up 15 spots in the 2025 edition, compared to last year's. This year's list, published in collaboration with data firm Statista, awards 700 companies across 23 industries, including retail, food and beverage, consumer goods, and energy and utilities, among others.
Some awarded companies include Costco, Levi Strauss, Dell and Netflix.
Capital One, which ranked 17th in last year's ranking, was the second-most trustworthy bank in 2025.
"Trust is essential today," Eike Rover, a senior analyst at Statista, told Newsweek.
"Amid rapid technological advancements, misinformation, and global uncertainties, trust is critical for ensuring stability and growth," he continued. "Identifying trustworthy companies helps employees, consumers, and investors make informed decisions, promoting brand loyalty, customer retention, employee satisfaction, and investor confidence—all vital for long-term success."
Statista's findings also underscore a key truth about trust: It takes time to build.
Rover explained that's why most of the companies on the list were previous award winners. Data showed consistency in trustworthiness rather than significant changes or variations from previous rankings. Nearly 83 percent of the companies awarded on this year's list were on last year's list as well.
Determining the Most Trustworthy Companies
To identify which companies Americans trust the most, Statista analyzed some 3,400 eligible companies, which needed to have its headquarters in the United States and needed to have at least $500 million in revenue. Both public and private companies were taken into consideration.
Overall scores of trustworthiness were determined by the combined scores of a survey, which accounted for 80 percent of the total score, and a social-listening component, which accounted for 20 percent of the total score.
The survey, which included 25,000 participants who submitted more than 100,000 evaluations, evaluated companies on three main touch points: views of the company by current and prospective customers, by investors and by employees. Respondents were asked to rate statements like, "I trust this company to treat me fairly as its customer" and "I believe that the company pays its employees well," on a five-point scale.
Survey scores were weighted, with customer and investor trust accounting for 40 percent and employee trust accounting for 20 percent. Responses from actual customers, investors and employees were also given a higher weight.
"Identifying trustworthy companies enables employees, consumers, and investors to make informed decisions aligned with their personal values and financial objectives," Rover said.
He noted that consumer ratings of trustworthiness were consistently highest while employee ratings remained lowest.
Rover also added that companies in the Appliances & Electronics category saw the highest investor trust, that those in the Food & Beverage industry saw the highest consumer trust and that companies from the Aerospace & Defense sector saw the highest employee trust.
Social listening involved aggregating internet mentions of a company in web articles, forums, social networks, comment sections and other media segments. Over 300,000 mentions were gathered over a period of five months, from September 2024 to January 2025. Using text analysis, Rover and his team looked at the sentiment, virality and reach of each mention.
'Trust Is The Foundation of Who We Are'
"Trust is the foundation of who we are as a company, and we work to earn the trust of our customers, investors, communities, and associates every day," Capital One's Navarrete said.
He continued, "The trust our customers choose to place in us when they allow Capital One to serve their financial needs is humbling, and we are committed to supporting their success every step of the way."
This year, Capital One was evaluated higher than the average of all awarded banks this year, with high scores across investor, customer and employee trust. Last year, in comparison, the bank scored slightly lower than average.
Capital One was the first major U.S. bank to eliminate all overdraft fees, choosing to waive the industry practice of charging hefty fees for transactions that exceed a customer's balance. The industry-leading move was estimated to cost the bank $150 million in lost revenue per year.
While smaller and online-only banks had made similar changes before Capital One did, Capital One—with more than 250 physical locations and over 70,000 ATMs— was the largest American bank to stop penalizing customers for overdraft and non-sufficient funds. Since Capital One became the first, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citibank have all followed suit to cut overdraft fees.
"We believe that those who build a business model based on short term gains are rarely viable over the longer term," Navarrete said. "Put simply, we anchor ourselves within our customers' interests—so that we succeed when they succeed."
Correction 3/26/2025, 4:44 p.m. ET: This article has been corrected to reflect when Capital One eliminated overdraft fees. It was in 2021, not 2024.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more