Bloomberg News

Lloyds Banking Group Plc agreed to buy Bank of America Corp.’s MBNA credit-card business in the U.K. for 1.9 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) in cash, marking its first major deal since being rescued by British taxpayers eight years ago.

The government of President Michel Temer has signaled that it wants to tackle the staggeringly large spread between Brazil’s benchmark Selic rate - currently 13.75 percent - and the average annual interest on credit cards, which is somewhere north of 450 percent.

Sudden jolts in the currency market may be becoming more frequent, with at least three flash crashes over the course of 14 months. But there is some hope in finding out their causes more quickly.

The largest denomination of Venezuela’s crippled currency was pulled from circulation before the new, larger-denomination bills were able to enter it, ATMs and wallets are mostly empty, and Christmas is just a little more than a week away.

Russian authorities have handed over an American fugitive who the U.S. accuses of conspiring to organize the largest known cyber attack on Wall Street, according to people familiar with the matter, resolving months of negotiations at a moment of high tension over hacking between Moscow and Washington.

Roughly 24 hours ahead of a planned rollout of much awaited -- and much needed -- larger-denomination bolivar bills in Venezuela, banks had yet to receive the new tender on Wednesday, nor was it clear whether the banknotes had even arrived in the country.

Venezuelans were wearily rushing to deposit bank notes or dump their cash savings entirely on Monday following an announcement by President Nicolas Maduro that he was invalidating the country’s biggest bill because of what he says is an attack on the nation’s liquidity.

In a move to boost recruitment and retention while keeping up with the corporate Joneses, American Express Co. said it will offer 20 weeks of paid leave to any U.S. employee of either gender who has a child through any means, including adoption and surrogacy. Birth mothers will get an additional six to eight weeks of paid medical leave on top of that.

After news of possible reductions in withdrawl limits, casino stocks suffered steep losses.

The mobile ticketing service is aimed at reducing lines, and is similar to a deal Atom has in place with Regal Cinemas.

The company hopes to build off of its successful mobile app by adding new ordering technology. A massive international expansion of its store footprint is also in the works.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s new Sapphire Reserve credit card will reduce the bank’s profit by $200 million to $300 million in the fourth quarter, according to Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon.

A Johannesburg startup is set to become the first company ever to manufacture smartphones in Africa, taking advantage of low costs and growing local demand to build handsets, tablets and other devices based on Google Inc.’s Android system.

Beacon technology, which was practically left for dead after failing to deliver on its promise to revolutionize the retail industry, is making a comeback.

Lines are nothing new in Venezuela, where the economy is shattered. Now added to the indignities of daily life in a country desperately short on most everything except crime is the ATM hustle, as banks crack down on what customers can take out.

Howard Schultz, who built the coffee empire over the past three decades and served two separate stints as CEO, will step down next year, handing the reins to technology veteran Kevin Johnson.

Visa Inc. pushed back its deadline for installing chip-card readers in U.S. gasoline pumps after station owners complained they didn’t have enough time to complete the multibillion-dollar upgrades.

Ant Financial’s attempt to add a social-network function to China’s biggest payments platform has backfired.

Apple Inc. scored a victory in the global battle to control the future of mobile payment technology after the Australian competition regulator refused to grant a group of local banks permission to negotiate collectively over the introduction of Apple Pay.

Stripe Inc. raised new financing that values the startup at about $9 billion, cementing its status as a major player in the crowded digital payments space and heralding a possible initial public offering.