Fines just punish shareholders, and at that, marginally. I can say that all corporations who are on their s**t go forward with every project with an expected value based on some negative downside risks, including litigation value. It's probable Capital One will still make money. With that said, the CFPB did some good work here, given the constraints put on them.
This article doesn't really mention it but if you google other stories, they mention that this was a settlement with the Feds.
Given that CapOne has to give a full refund to everyone, and incurred costs and had to give revenue to the 3rd parties, I don't see how they turn out net positive on the fraudulent revenues: Most of the refunds will go to customers who bought add-on card services between August 2010 and January 2012. They will receive the full amount of fees they paid and any other related costs. Capital One customers will receive credit to their accounts; former customers will receive checks.
