Richard D. Fairbank
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Capital One Financial
Thanks, Andrew and good evening, everyone. I'll begin on slide 10 with our Credit Card business. Accelerating year-over-year growth in purchase volume and loans coupled with strong revenue margin drove an increase in revenue compared to the fourth quarter of 2020. Credit Card segment results are largely a function of our Domestic Card results and trends, which are shown on slide 11. As you can see on slide 11, our Domestic Card business posted strong growth in every topline metric in the fourth quarter. Purchase volume for the fourth quarter was up 29% year-over-year and up 30% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
The rebound in loan growth accelerated with ending loan balances up $10.2 billion or about 10% year-over-year. Ending loans also grew 10% from the sequential quarter ahead of typical seasonal growth of around 4%. Ending loan growth was the result of the strong growth in purchase volume as well as the traction we're getting with new account originations and line increases partially offset by continued high payment rates. And revenue was up 15% year-over-year driven by the growth in purchase volume and loans. Domestic Card revenue margin increased 123 basis points year-over-year to 18.1%.
Two factors drove most of the increase. Revenue margin benefited from spend velocity which is purchase volume and net interchange growth outpacing loan growth and favorable year-over-year credit performance enabled us to recognize a higher proportion of finance charges and fees in fourth quarter revenue. Credit results remain strikingly strong. The Domestic Card charge-off rate for the quarter was 1.49%, a 120 basis point improvement year-over-year. The 30-plus delinquency rate at quarter end was 2.22%, 20 basis points better than the prior year. On a linked quarter basis, the charge-off rate was up 13 basis points and the delinquency rate was up 29 basis points. Non-interest expense was up 24% from the fourth quarter of 2020. The biggest driver of non-interest expense was an increase in marketing.
Total Company marketing expense was $999 million in the quarter. Our choices in Domestic Card marketing are the biggest driver of total Company marketing trends. We continue to see attractive opportunities to grow our Domestic Card business and our growth opportunities are enhanced by our technology transformation. We continue to lean into marketing to drive growth and build our Domestic Card franchise. At the same time, we're keeping a watchful eye on the competitive environment which is intensifying. Pulling up, our Domestic Card business continues to deliver significant value as we invest to grow and build our franchise.
Moving to slide 12, strong loan growth in our Consumer Banking business continued in the fourth quarter. Driven by auto, fourth quarter ending loans increased 13% year-over-year in the Consumer Banking business. Average loans also grew 13%. Fourth quarter auto originations were up 32% year-over-year. Our digital capabilities and deep dealer relationship strategy continued to drive year-over-year growth in our auto business. In the fourth quarter, we saw a pickup in competitive intensity in the marketplace. On a linked quarter basis, auto originations were down 16%. Fourth quarter ending deposits in the consumer bank were up $6.6 billion [Phonetic] or 3% year-over-year. Average deposits were up 2% year-over-year.
Consumer Banking revenue grew 7% from the prior-year quarter, driven by growth in auto loans, partially offset by declining auto loan yields. Non-interest expense increased 15% year-over-year. Fourth quarter provision for credit losses improved by $58 million year-over-year driven by an allowance release in our auto business. The auto charge-off rate and delinquency rate remains strong and well below pre-pandemic levels. On a linked quarter basis, the charge-off rate for the fourth quarter was 0.58%, up 40 basis points and the 30-plus delinquency rate was 4.32% up 67 basis points. Slide 13 shows fourth quarter results for our Commercial Banking business which delivered strong growth in loans, deposits and revenue in the quarter. Fourth quarter ending loan balances were up 12% year-over-year driven by growth in selected industry specialties.
Average loans were up 8%. Ending deposits grew 13% from the fourth quarter of 2020 as middle market and government customers continued to hold elevated levels of liquidity. Quarterly average deposits also increased 14% year-over-year. Fourth quarter revenue was up 19% from the prior-year quarter, with 29% growth in non-interest income. Non-interest expense was up 17%. Commercial credit performance remains strong. In the fourth quarter, the Commercial Banking annualized charge-off rate was a negative 2 basis points. The criticized performing loan rate was 6.1% and the criticized non-performing loan rate was 0.8%. Our Commercial Banking business is delivering solid performance as we continue to build our commercial capabilities.
I'll close tonight with some thoughts on our results and our strategic positioning. Growth momentum is evident throughout our fourth quarter results. In the quarter, we drove strong growth in Domestic Card revenue, purchase volume and loan. We also posted strong auto and commercial growth. Credit remains strikingly strong across our business and we continue to return capital to our shareholders. As we enter 2022, we continue to see attractive opportunities to grow our businesses and build our franchise. We will continue to lean into marketing to capitalize on these opportunities and drive growth.
For years, we've talked about how we think digital change and modern technology are changing the game in banking. Last quarter, I noted that the stakes were rising faster than ever before. The investment flowing into fintechs is breathtaking, and it's growing. Also many legacy companies, they are embracing the realization that technology capability maybe an essential issue for them, and our increasing technology investments. The war for tech talent continues to escalate which is driving up tech labor costs even before any headcount increase. All these developments underscore the significant opportunity for players to have modern technology and who are in a position to drive growth. Capital One is very well positioned to do that. We've spent years driving our technology transformation from the bottom of the tech stack up. We are an original fintech and we have built modern technology infrastructure and capabilities at scale. And we're investing to leverage these capabilities to grow and to realize the many benefits of our digital transformation.
We have been on a long journey to drive our operating efficiency ratio down. We expect that the striking rise in the cost of modern tech talent on top of our growth investments will pressure annual operating efficiency in the near term. But these pressures do not change our belief in the longer term opportunity to drive operating efficiency improvement powered by revenue growth and digital productivity gains. Pulling way up, we're living through an extraordinary time of digital change. Our modern technology stack is powering our performance and our growth opportunity. It's setting us up to capitalize on the accelerating digital revolution in banking and is the engine that drives enduring value creation over the long term.
And now we'll be happy to answer your question. Jeff?