PayPal Holdings Inc. plans to allow customers to buy cryptocurrency through their accounts and use cryptocurrency for merchant payments. The company announced Wednesday that it is introducing a way for customers to buy, hold, and sell certain cryptocurrencies within the PayPal PYPL, +0.95% wallet. This will roll out over the coming weeks in the U.S. Initially, PayPal users will be able to buy Bitcoin BTCUSD, +3.90%, Ethereum ETHUSD, +3.05%, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, +6.72%, and Litecoin LTCUSD,...

It took a pandemic for Nema Causey, the head of a candy retailer, to discover that she was sitting on a viral internet goldmine. Even before the World Health Organization officially declared the COVID-19 crisis a pandemic in early March, Causey noticed that orders were starting to dry up at Candy Me Up, her San Diego-based business that specializes in selling sweets to retail clients for use in events like candy buffets. “I was tripping out because I never fail in business,” said Causey, 33,...

Global Payments Inc. topped expectations with its fourth-quarter results Wednesday and gave an upbeat view of merger synergies, but that wasn’t enough to send shares of the fintech company higher in the session. The company posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.62 on revenue of $1.8 billion for the period, whereas analysts were modeling $1.60 in EPS and $1.75 billion in revenue. Global Payments GPN, -0.77% also said it now expects to yield annual run rate cost synergies of at least $350...

Peter Grundy You may not think the number of words in an email subject line says anything about you, but at least one company is betting that the metric can help determine your likelihood of paying back a loan. LenddoEFL, based in Singapore, is one of a handful of startups using alternative data points for credit scoring. Those companies review behavioral traits and smartphone habits to build models of creditworthiness for consumers in emerging markets, where standard credit reporting barely...

Bloomberg News Marriott International Inc. offers the best hotel loyalty program, according to a recent analysis from Bernstein. Analyst David Beckel recently took a look at several top loyalty programs—Marriott Rewards, Hilton Honors, World of Hyatt, and a joint Hotels.com/Chase Sapphire offering—and found that MAR, -0.61% boasts the best perks as well as the most attractive redemption options. Rewards programs are a crucial part of the strategy for hotel chains, which face competition from...