Credit

American Express Co., the credit-card issuer grappling with the loss of its biggest partner, posted third- quarter profit that missed analysts' estimates as expenses rose and revenue declined.

Discover Financial Services, the credit-card issuer that's expanded to student lending and unsecured personal loans, posted profit that beat analysts' estimates as the firm bought back about 8 million shares of stock and provisions for loan losses declined.

WEX has agreed to acquire fleet card provider Electronic Funds Source in a stock-and-cash deal.

Barclaycard and travel site priceline.com have extended their co-branding agreement, which means consumers can still get a credit card with pitchman William Shatner's face on it.

Prosper Marketplace, one of the nation’s largest marketplace lenders, has agreed to purchase the consumer finance app maker BillGuard.

Credit-card industry executives always insist that they face strong competition. But the battle between the nation's largest card issuers appears to have intensified in recent months, and it shows no signs of waning.

Alliance Data Systems has agreed to work with Toyota on a new line of private-label credit cards and to manage the Japanese automaker's existing co-branded card program.

Western Union has restored its outbound money transfer service from Greece, following its June suspension due to a temporary shutdown of Greek banks amid the escalation of the country’s debt crisis.

Fidelity Investments is considering dropping American Express and Bank of America to find new partners and better terms for one of the top-rated cash-back credit cards in the U.S., according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The global loan platforms present an extreme example of the ongoing clash between the fast-moving financial technology sphere and the staid world of financial regulation.

Discover Financial Services topped peers in a J.D. Power credit-card customer satisfaction ranking, ousting American Express Co. from the No. 1 spot for the first time in the survey's nine years.

Commerce Bancshares Kansas City, Mo., has found its customers want to save the planet, but don't want to put in too much effort, so the issuer partnered with Sustain:Green for cards that offset carbon emissions.

Discover Financial Services is ready to take a few steps — measured, tentative, exhaustively analyzed steps — down the credit spectrum, its chief executive said.

Amex will terminate its agreement with Costco in the U.S. next year, a relationship that accounted for 20 percent of Amex's worldwide loans and 8 percent of customer spending.

Citigroup Inc. is in final talks to sell its Japanese credit-card unit to Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. for at least 40 billion yen ($335 million), people familiar with the matter said.

UnionPay International, a Shanghai-based subsidiary of China UnionPay, has launched a rewards program with duty free businesses at airports around the world.

American Express Co., the lender that cut ties with one of its biggest retailer partners last month, agreed to a multiyear venture with Charles Schwab Corp. to create two co-branded credit cards.

The Purchase, N.Y. card network named Brian Lang to this role, where he will be responsible for growing the unit's business by introducing new technology and product offerings. Lang will succeed Betty DeVita, who will become chief commercial officer of MasterCard Labs in New York.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday that it's seeking public comment ahead of a second study on the credit card market that could pave the way for new regulations or enforcement actions.

It's not always fun to be the butt of a joke, but in the financial services industry, it's often unavoidable. Some companies are embracing this role to turn the mockery into marketing.