In the fourth quarter, Capital One earned 2.4 billion or $5.41 per diluted common share.
For the full year, Capital One earned 12.4 billion or $26.94 per share.
On an adjusted basis, full year earnings per share were $27.11.
Full year ROTCE was 28.4%.
Included in the results for the fourth quarter was an upgrade to a legacy rewards program, which increased our rewards liability and decreased noninterest income by $92 million.
Both period end and average loans held for investment grew 6% on a linked-quarter basis.
Ending loans grew 10% in domestic card, 7% in commercial, and 1% in consumer banking.
Revenue in the linked quarter increased 4%, driven by the loan growth I just described, while total noninterest expense increased 12% in the quarter, driven by increases in both operating and marketing expenses.
Provision expense in the quarter was 381 million and net charge offs of 527 million were partially offset by a modest allowance release.
For the total company, we released 145 million of allowance in the fourth quarter, bringing the total allowance balance to 11.4 billion.
The total company coverage ratio now stands at 4.12%.
In domestic card, the allowance balance remained flat at $8 billion.
Turning to Page 6, I'll now discuss liquidity.
You can see, our preliminary average liquidity coverage ratio during the fourth quarter was 139%.
The LCR remains stable and continues to be well above the 100% regulatory requirement.
Relative to the prior quarter, ending cash and equivalents were down about $5 billion.
And investment securities were down about $3 billion as we used our liquidity to fund loan growth and share buybacks.
Turning to Page 7, I'll cover our net interest margin.
You can see that our fourth quarter net interest margin was 6.6%, 25 basis points higher than Q3 and 55 basis points higher than the year-ago quarter.
Our common equity Tier 1 capital ratio was 13.1% at the end of the fourth quarter, down 70 basis points from the prior quarter.
We continue to estimate that our CET1 capital need is around 11%.
In the fourth quarter, we repurchased $2.6 billion of common stock, which completed our $7.5 billion board authorization.
Our board of directors has approved an additional repurchase authorization of up to $5 billion of the company's common stock.
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%.
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%.
The domestic car 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.
Noninterest expense was up 24% from the fourth quarter of 2020.
Total company marketing expense was $999 million in the 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.
On a linked-quarter basis, auto originations were down 16%.
Fourth quarter ending deposits in the consumer bank were up $6.6 billion 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.
Noninterest 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.
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.
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 noninterest income.
Noninterest expense was up 17%.
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 nonperforming loan rate was 0.8%.

Summary:
In the fourth quarter, Capital One earned 2.4 billion or $5.41 per diluted common share.
Revenue in the linked quarter increased 4%, driven by the loan growth I just described, while total noninterest expense increased 12% in the quarter, driven by increases in both operating and marketing expenses.
Provision expense in the quarter was 381 million and net charge offs of 527 million were partially offset by a modest allowance release.
You can see that our fourth quarter net interest margin was 6.6%, 25 basis points higher than Q3 and 55 basis points higher than the year-ago quarter.
Our common equity Tier 1 capital ratio was 13.1% at the end of the fourth quarter, down 70 basis points from the prior quarter.