In the third quarter, we reported earnings per share of $1.30 and generated total revenue of $5.9 billion.
Our linked quarter pre-tax pre-provision net revenue growth of 2.7% was driven by continued momentum across our fee businesses, growth in average loan balances, and continued focus on expense management resulting in positive operating leverage.
We released $310 million of loan loss reserves this quarter, supported by our outlook on the economy and better-than-expected credit quality metrics.
Our book value per share totaled $32.22 at September 30, which was 1.5% higher than June 30.
Our CET1 ratio was 10.2% at September 30.
Slide 4 provides key third quarter performance metrics, including a return on tangible common equity of over 20%.
Our starting point is that, we have about 1.1 million Business Banking relationships, which we define as businesses with under $25 million in revenue.
As we discussed previously, we believe we can grow our small business relationships by 15% to 20% and related revenue by 25% to 30% over the next few years.
Average loans increased 0.8% compared with the second quarter, driven by growth in other retail loans, primarily installment loans, as well as growth in credit card and residential mortgages.
At September 30, PPP loan balances totaled $2.4 billion compared to $4.9 billion at June 30.
Excluding PPP loans, third quarter average loans grew by 1.8% on a linked quarter basis.
Turning to Slide 8, average deposits increased 0.5% compared with the second quarter and 6.4% compared with a year ago.
Non-performing assets declined on both a linked quarter and year-over-year basis and our net charge-off ratio hit a record low of 20 basis points.
Our reserve release was $310 million this quarter, primarily reflecting strong credit quality metrics.
Our allowance for credit losses as of September 30 totaled $6.3 billion, or 2.1% of loans.
In the third quarter of 2021, we earned $1.30 per diluted share.
These results include a reserve release of $310 million.
Turning to Slide 11, net interest income on a fully taxable equivalent basis of $3.2 billion increased by 1% compared with the second quarter.
Compared with a year ago, non-interest income declined 0.7% as decreases in mortgage revenue and commercial products revenue more than offset strong growth in payments revenue, trust and investment management fees, deposit service charges, and treasury management fees.
On a linked quarter basis, non-interest income increased 2.8% reflecting higher-than-expected payments revenue and a 20% increase in mortgage revenue driven by growth in production volume and related gain on sale margins, as well as higher loan sales.
However, corporate payment revenues increased by 13%, which was better-than-expected, driven by improving business spend activity.
Merchant processing revenue increased by 4.8% due to higher merchant and equipment fees, as well as higher sales volumes.
Turning to Slide 14, non-interest expense increased 1.2% compared to the second quarter.
Our common equity Tier 1 capital ratio at September 30 was 10.2%, which increased slightly compared to June 30.
After the closing of the acquisition, we expect to operate at a CET1 capital ratio between our target ratio and 9%.
As PPP winds down and we approach the end of the forgiveness period, we expect PPP fees to decline $60 million to $70 million in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, we expect to see a seasonal increase in amortization of tax-advantaged investments of approximately $60 million, as well as some seasonal impacts in marketing and in business investments.
For the full-year of 2021, we expect our taxable equivalent tax rate to be approximately 22%.

Summary:
In the third quarter, we reported earnings per share of $1.30 and generated total revenue of $5.9 billion.
We released $310 million of loan loss reserves this quarter, supported by our outlook on the economy and better-than-expected credit quality metrics.
Our CET1 ratio was 10.2% at September 30.
Our reserve release was $310 million this quarter, primarily reflecting strong credit quality metrics.
In the third quarter of 2021, we earned $1.30 per diluted share.
These results include a reserve release of $310 million.
Our common equity Tier 1 capital ratio at September 30 was 10.2%, which increased slightly compared to June 30.