“Our expectations for operating expense for the year are also unchanged with growth expected to be at the high end of a high single-digit rate on a currency-neutral basis excluding acquisitions and special items.”

In context

“ngs. Cross-border card-not-present ex travel continues to hold up well. While we are monitoring a number of macro and geopolitical factors, our base case scenario for the year continues to assume consumer spending remains resilient, buoyed by strong labor market and reflects current spending dynamics and the ongoing recovery of cross-border travel. For the year, our outlook is broadly unchanged. We expect net revenue growth for the full year 2023 to remain in the low teens range on a currency-neutral basis excluding acquisitions and special items. As a reminder, this growth rate would have been approximately 1.5 ppt higher if you exclude Russia-related revenues from 2022. Foreign exchange is expected to be a tailwind of 1 ppt for the year, and we expect a minimal impact from acquisitions. Our expectations for operating expense for the year are also unchanged with growth expected to be at the high end of a high single-digit rate on a currency-neutral basis excluding acquisitions and special items. Acquisitions are forecasted to add about 1 ppt to this growth, and foreign exchange is expected to be a headwind of approximately 0 to 1 ppt for the year. As Michael mentioned, we are prepared to proactively adjust our operating expenses if we see meaningful changes to top line growth. With respect to the third quarter, year-over-year net revenue is expected to grow at a low double-digit rate, again, on a currency-neutral basis excluding acquisitions and special items. Coming off a strong Q2, this sequentially reflects a lower anticipated contribution to growth from revenues related to FX volatility. Foreign exchange is expected to be a tailwind of approximately 3 ppt, and acquisitions are not expected to have much of an impact for the quarter. From an operating expense standpoint, we exp”