Quarter 4 net revenues were up 28% and earnings per share up 46% versus a year ago on a non-GAAP currency-neutral basis.
On the same basis, Quarter 4 net revenues are 19% above pre-COVID levels in 2019.
According to our Quarter 4 SpendingPulse report, which is always based on all payment types including cash and check, guest retail sales ex auto, ex gas were up 6.4% versus a year ago and up 10.9% versus 2019.
SpendingPulse shows that overall European retail sales in Quarter 4 were up 3.3% versus a year ago and up 1.3% versus 2019.
60% of the world's population is now at least partially vaccinated, effective therapeutics are becoming available, and governments are using more targeted measures to limit the spread.
The recovery has continued with overall Quarter 4 cross-border levels now higher than those in 2019.
In aggregate, these targeted flows represent $115 trillion in opportunity.
And I'm happy to note that the consumer credit portfolio of Merix Bank, over 3 million customers will transition to Mastercard beginning in the second quarter.
Over in the Netherlands, we've renewed our partnership with Rabobank, which includes the migration of 8 million Maestro cards to debit Mastercard.
The U.S. launch is on schedule for Quarter 1.
We now have 100 deployments of Tap on Phone in over 50 markets with leading partners globally.
The group services revenue at 25% in 2021 on a currency-neutral basis.
Their customer set includes over 400 global brands ranging from financial services companies like Synchrony to retailers like Lens End.
On the open banking front, we have closed the acquisition of Aiia in November, which brings strong API connectivity to over 2,700 banks across Europe.
And combined with Finicity's North American connection, which covered more than 95% of deposit accounts in the U.S. market, Mastercard has an unparalleled footprint in the key open banking regions, upon which we are building solutions to solve a wide range of these cases.
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 28%, reflecting the continued execution of our strategy and the ongoing recovery in spending.
Acquisitions contributed 3 ppt to this growth.
Operating expenses increased 19%, including a 7 ppt increase from acquisitions.
Operating income was up 37%, which includes a 1 ppt decrease related to acquisitions.
Net income was up 44%, which includes no impact from acquisitions as the impact of acquisitions on operating income was offset by a onetime acquisition-related tax benefit.
EPS was up 46% year over year to $2.35, which includes a $0.04 contribution from share repurchases.
During the quarter, we repurchased $1.3 billion worth of stock and an additional $528 million through January 24, 2022.
So let's turn to Page 4, where you can see the operational metrics for the fourth quarter.
Worldwide gross dollar volume, or GDV, increased by 23% year over year on a local-currency basis.
U.S. GDV increased by 23% with debit growth of 15% and credit growth of 34%.
Outside of the U.S., volume increased 23%, with debit growth of 25% and credit growth of 20%.
To put this in perspective, as a percentage of 2019 levels, GDV is at 125%, up 4 points quarter over quarter with credit at 116%, up 5 points sequentially and debit at 134%, up 3 points sequentially.
Cross-border volume was up 53% globally for the quarter, with intra-Europe cross-border volumes up 45% and other cross-border volumes up 63%, reflecting continued improvement in travel-related cross-border as several borders opened during the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, cross-border volume was 109% of 2019 levels, with intra-Europe at 122% and other cross-border volume at 98% of 2019 levels.
Turning to Page 5.
Switched transactions grew 27% year over year in Q4 and were at 132% of 2019 levels.
In addition, card growth was 9%.
Globally, there are 3 billion Mastercard and Maestro-branded cards issued.
The increase in net revenue of 28% 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 24%, while worldwide GDV grew 23%.
Cross-border volume fees increased 61% while cross-border volumes increased 53%.
Transaction processing fees were up 28%, generally in line with switched transaction growth of 27%.
Other revenues were up 30%, including a 9 ppt contribution from acquisitions.
Finally, rebates and incentives were up 38%, in line with our expectations, reflecting the strong growth in volumes and transactions and new internode deal activity.
Moving on to Page 7.
You can see that on a currency-neutral basis, total operating expenses increased 19%, including a 7 ppt impact from acquisitions.
Excluding acquisitions, operating expenses grew 12%, primarily due to increased spending on advertising and marketing, higher personnel costs to support the continued investment in our strategic initiatives and increased data processing costs.
Turning now to Page 8.
Through the first three weeks of January, we are now at 149% of 2019 levels, up 13 points versus Q4.
Overall, cross-border volume through the first three weeks of January is now at 116% of 2019 levels, up 7 points versus Q4.
Turning to Page 9.
Turning to our expectations for the full year 2022.
Acquisitions are forecast to add about 4 to 5 ppt to this growth, while foreign exchange is expected to be a tailwind of approximately 1 ppt for the year.
Acquisitions are forecast to add about 2 ppt to this growth, while foreign exchange is expected to be a headwind of 2 to 3 ppt for the quarter.
Acquisitions are forecast to add about 6 ppt to this growth, while foreign exchange is expected to be a tailwind of approximately 1 ppt for the quarter.
On the other income and expense line, we are at an expense run rate of approximately $115 million per quarter given the prevailing interest rates and debt levels.
And finally, we expect a tax rate of approximately 17% to 18% for the year based on the current geographic mix of our business.
This assumes an annual target market volume growth rate of 10% to 11%, cross-border travel returning to 2019 levels by the end of 2022 and doing our services revenues at a 20%-plus CAGR.
From an operating margin perspective, we will continue to operate with the philosophy of delivering a minimum annual operating margin of 50%.

Summary:
Quarter 4 net revenues were up 28% and earnings per share up 46% versus a year ago on a non-GAAP currency-neutral basis.
The recovery has continued with overall Quarter 4 cross-border levels now higher than those in 2019.
EPS was up 46% year over year to $2.35, which includes a $0.04 contribution from share repurchases.
Cross-border volume was up 53% globally for the quarter, with intra-Europe cross-border volumes up 45% and other cross-border volumes up 63%, reflecting continued improvement in travel-related cross-border as several borders opened during the fourth quarter.
Switched transactions grew 27% year over year in Q4 and were at 132% of 2019 levels.
Cross-border volume fees increased 61% while cross-border volumes increased 53%.
Transaction processing fees were up 28%, generally in line with switched transaction growth of 27%.
Turning to our expectations for the full year 2022.