The net revenue up 29% and earnings per share up 48% versus a year ago, as always, on a non-GAAP currency-neutral basis.
On this same basis, Quarter 3 net revenues are now 11% above pre-COVID levels in 2019.
retail sales ex auto, ex gas were up 5% versus a year ago and 12% versus 2019, reflecting the return to in-person shopping and the ongoing e-commerce strength.
SpendingPulse also indicated that the overall European retail sales in Quarter 3 were up 5% and 6% versus 2019.
We will, therefore, turn the page and move beyond the four-phased framework that guided us through the last 19 months and focus on managing the business for the growth opportunities ahead of us.
Our cross-border travel improved from 48% of 2019 levels in the second quarter to 72% this quarter with substantial upside potential still remaining as and when borders open.
And in Brazil, we signed a deal with Autopass to issue more than 10 million cards to mass transit users in the Sao Paulo area, and along with that, open, contactless acceptance across their subway trains and city buses.
Earlier this month, we acquired CipherTrace, a security and fraud monitoring company with expertise, technologies and insights into more than 900 cryptocurrencies.
So turning to Page 3, which shows our financial performance for the quarter on a currency-neutral basis, excluding special items and the impact of gains and losses on our equity investments.
Net revenue was up 29%, reflecting the continued execution of our strategy and the ongoing recovery in spending.
Acquisitions contributed 3 ppt to this growth.
Operating expenses increased 23%, including an 8 ppt increase from acquisitions.
Operating income was up 34% and net income was up 45%, both of which include a 1 ppt decrease related to acquisitions.
Further, net income growth was also positively impacted by 6 ppt due to the recognition of higher one-time discrete U.S. tax benefits versus a year ago.
EPS was up 48% year over year to $2.37, which includes $0.02 of dilution related to our recent acquisitions, offset by a $0.04 contribution from share repurchases.
During the quarter, we repurchased $1.6 billion worth of stock and an additional $361 million through October 25, 2021.
So now, let's turn to Page 4, where you can see the operational metrics for the third quarter.
Worldwide gross dollar volume or GDV increased by 20% year over year on a local-currency basis.
U.S. GDV increased by 20% with debit growth of 9% and credit growth of 36%.
Outside of the U.S., volume increased 20%, with debit growth of 23% and credit growth of 16%.
To put this in perspective, as a percentage of 2019 levels, GDV is at 121%, up 2 ppt sequentially, with credit at 111%, up 4 ppt sequentially, and debit at 131%, flat quarter over quarter.
Cross-border volume was up 52% globally for the quarter with intra-Europe cross-border volumes up 47% and other cross-border volumes up 60%, reflecting continued improvement and the lapping of the pandemic last year.
In the third quarter, cross-border volume was at 97% of 2019 levels with intra-Europe at 112% and other cross-border volume at 83% of 2019 levels.
Notably, cross-border volumes averaged at or above 100% of 2019 levels in the months of August and September.
Turning now to Page 5.
Switched transactions grew 25% year over year in Q3 and were at 131% of 2019 levels.
In Q3, contactless transactions represented 48% of in-person purchase transactions globally, up from 45% last quarter.
In addition, card growth was 8%.
Globally, there are 2.9 billion Mastercard and Maestro-branded cards issued.
The increase in net revenue of 29% was primarily driven by domestic and cross-border transaction and volume growth, as well as strong growth in services, partially offset by higher rebates and incentives.
As previously mentioned, acquisitions contributed approximately 3 ppt to net revenue growth.
Domestic assessments were up 21% while worldwide GDV grew 20%.
Cross-border volume fees increased 59% while cross-border volumes increased 52%.
The 7 ppt difference is primarily due to favorable mix as higher-yielding ex intra-Europe cross-border volumes grew faster than intra-Europe cross-border volumes this quarter.
Transaction processing fees were up 26%, generally in line with switched transaction growth of 25%.
Other revenues were up 35%, including a 10 ppt contribution from acquisitions.
Finally, rebates and incentives were up 34%, reflecting the strong growth in volume of transactions and new and renewed deal activity.
Moving on to Page 7.
You can see that on a currency-neutral basis, total operating expenses increased 23%, including an 8 ppt impact from acquisitions.
Excluding acquisitions, operating expenses grew 16%, primarily due to higher personnel costs as we invest in our strategic initiatives, including -- sorry, increased spending on advertising and marketing and increased data processing costs.
Turning to Page 8.
So if you look at spending levels as a percentage of 2019 for switched volumes, through the first three weeks of October, the recent trends have continued with overall switched volumes at 134% of 2019 levels, up 3 ppt versus Q3.
And we are now at 105% of 2019 levels.
Turning to Page 9.
As a reminder, spending recovered progressively in 2020, so we will be facing a more difficult comp of approximately 7 ppt in the fourth quarter relative to the third quarter.
And we expect acquisitions will contribute about 2 to 3 ppt to revenue and 8 ppt to operating expense growth in Q4.
Foreign exchange is expected to be about 0.5 ppt headwind to both net revenue and operating expenses in Q4.
On the other income and expense line, we are at an expense run rate of approximately $120 million per quarter, given the prevailing interest rates.
And finally, we expect a tax rate of approximately 18% to 19% for the fourth quarter.

Summary:
Worldwide gross dollar volume or GDV increased by 20% year over year on a local-currency basis.
U.S. GDV increased by 20% with debit growth of 9% and credit growth of 36%.
Outside of the U.S., volume increased 20%, with debit growth of 23% and credit growth of 16%.
Domestic assessments were up 21% while worldwide GDV grew 20%.