Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF) is an interesting bank stock right now. Not only is it a highly profitable business that trades for a discount to its book value, but it's also set to acquire fellow financial institution Discover (NYSE: DFS) in the not-too-distant future.

The Discover deal could result in cost synergies and network savings for Capital One, but the ownership of a payment network by a major U.S. bank creates some interesting possibilities for the future. Here's why Capital One has jumped to the top of my watch list and deserves a closer look right now.

Capital One's business is strong. Because of the credit-card-heavy nature of its business, as well as its focus on online and mobile banking, Capital One has an excellent cost structure. Its net interest margin of 6.7% is more than double what most other major U.S. banks produce.

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Source Fool.com