Richard D. Fairbank
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Capital One Financial
Thank you, Andrew, and good evening everyone. I'll begin on Slide 10 with our Credit Card business. Year-over-year growth in purchase volume and loans coupled with strong revenue margin drove an increase in revenue compared the first quarter of 2021.
Credit Card segment results are largely a function of our Domestic Card results and trends, which are shown on Slide 11. Our Domestic Card business posted strong year-over-year growth in every topline metric in the first quarter as we continued our longstanding strategic focus on winning with heavy spenders and building a franchise across the business.
Purchase volume for the first quarter was up 26% year-over-year and up 47% compared to the first quarter of 2019. The rebound in loan growth accelerated with ending loan balances up $16.9 billion or about 19% year-over-year. Ending loans were down just 1% from the sequential quarter better than the typical seasonal decline of around 7%. And revenue was up 20% year-over-year driven by the growth in purchase volume and loans as well as strong revenue margin.
Domestic Card revenue margin for the first quarter was 18.3%. Revenue margin continued to benefit from spend velocity, which is the purchase volume and net interchange growth outpacing loan growth. Spend velocity is driven by the traction we're getting with heavy spenders. The margin also includes a gain from a card partnership portfolio sale in the quarter.
Credit results remain strikingly strong. The Domestic Card charge-off rate for the quarter was 2.12% a 42-basis-point improvement year-over-year. The 30-plus delinquency rate at quarter end was 3.32%, 8 basis points above the prior year. Gradual credit normalization continued in the first quarter. On a linked quarter basis, the charge-off rate was up 63 basis points and the delinquency rate was up 10 basis points.
Non-interest expense was up 33% from the first quarter of 2021, driven by an increase in marketing. Total company marketing expense was $918 million in the quarter. Our choices in Domestic Card marketing are the biggest, but of course, not the only driver of total company marketing trends. We continue to see opportunities to book Domestic Card accounts and loans that can generate resilient and attractive returns and we continue to lean into marketing to drive growth and build our Domestic Card franchise. Consumer balance sheets and labor markets are strong, and in our own portfolio, credit results continue to be well below pre-pandemic levels and they are normalizing gradually. We're keeping a close eye on competitor actions and potential marketplace risks. And as always, we're underwriting to worsening scenarios, even as we lean into marketing.
Our Domestic Card marketing is evolving and increasing as our decade long focus on heavy spenders continues to gain traction. We increased marketing to grow the heavy spender franchise and drive the successful launch of Venture X. Growth in new accounts and robust customer spending drove an increase in early spend bonuses, which show up in our marketing expense. And part of our marketing is focused on strengthening our heavy spender franchise with investments in our new travel portal and airport lounges.
And looking across the whole company, our digital transformation is generating new business opportunities like Capital One Shopping in our Card business and Auto Navigator in our Auto business and modern technology infrastructure and capabilities are driving our digital-first National Direct Banking strategy in Consumer Banking. We are marketing to continue to propel these growing digital businesses.
Our marketing is paying off across these opportunities. We posted very strong growth in Domestic Card purchase volume, new accounts and loans. We're gaining share and building a long-term franchise with heavy spenders and away from the Card business, we're growing Auto originations and deepening dealer relationships with Auto Navigator. And our National Direct Banking business is winning with customers and driving growth.
Speaking of our auto and retail banking businesses, let's move to Slide 12, which shows that strong loan growth in our Consumer Banking business continued in the first quarter. Driven by Auto, first quarter ending loans increased 14% year-over-year in the Consumer Banking business. Average loans also grew 14%. First quarter auto originations were up 33% year-over-year. On a linked quarter basis, auto originations were up 20%. Our digital capabilities and deep dealer relationship strategy continued to drive year-over-year growth in our auto business. We continue to closely monitor competitive and credit dynamics in the auto marketplace.
First quarter ending deposits in the Consumer Bank were up $4.4 billion, or 2% year-over-year. Average deposits were also up 2% year-over-year. Consumer Banking revenue grew 2% from the prior year quarter, driven by growth in auto loans, partially offset by declining auto loan yields and the early effects of our decision to completely eliminate overdraft fees. The year-over-year decrease in auto loan yields was driven by a mix shift toward prime loans and are focused on booking higher quality loans within credit segments.
Across the auto lending industry the pace of price increases has not kept up with the pace of rising interest rates. The decline in loan yields coupled with the pace of pricing changes has compressed margins in our auto business. First quarter provision for credit losses swung from a net benefit of $126 million in the first quarter of 2021 to a net expense of $130 million. The allowance for credit losses in our auto business was flat in the quarter compared to an allowance release in the year ago quarter.
The auto charge-off rate and delinquency rate are gradually normalizing and remain strong and well below pre-pandemic levels. The charge-off rate for the first quarter was 0.66%, up 19 basis points year-over-year. The 30-plus delinquency rate was 3.85%, up 73 basis points year-over-year. On a linked quarter basis, the charge-off rate was up 8 basis points and the 30-plus delinquency rate was down 47 basis points.
Slide 13 shows first quarter results for our Commercial Banking business, which delivered strong growth in loans, deposits and revenue in the quarter. First quarter ending loan balances were up 17% year-over-year, driven by growth in selected industry specialties and increasing utilization. Average loans were up 15%. Ending deposits grew 9% from the first year -- excuse me, from the first quarter of 2021 as middle market and government customers continued to hold elevated levels of liquidity. Quarterly average deposits increased 12% year-over-year.
First quarter revenue was up 16% from the prior year quarter. Non-interest expense was also up 16%. Commercial credit performance remained strong. In the first quarter, the Commercial Banking annualized charge-off rate was 6 basis points. The criticized performing loan rate was 5.7% and the criticized non-performing loan rate was 0.8%.
In closing, we continued to drive strong growth in Domestic Card revenue, purchase volume and loans in the first quarter. We also posted strong auto and commercial growth. Credit is gradually normalizing and remains strikingly strong across our businesses, and we continue to return capital to our shareholders. Pulling way up, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the accelerating digital revolution in banking. Our modern technology stack is powering our performance and our growth opportunity. And it's the engine of enduring value creation over the long-term.
And now we'll be happy to answer your questions. Jeff?