As the golden child of international financial technology companies, Stripe has had a profound impact on the sector globally, helping to take financial technology mainstream. 

An online payments start-up founded by Limerick brothers Patrick and John Collison is continuing its rapid Silicon Valley ascent with another round of funding that values the company at $5 billion (€4.52bn).

PayPal is splitting from eBay and will become a separate and publicly traded company next year.

The US stock market had its biggest decline in two weeks yesterday, led by a sell-off in blue-chip bank and energy stocks.

Millionaire Limerick brothers Patrick and John Collison’s developer-friendly payments company has officially launched in the UK after clearing “large hurdles”.

Next February, the first cold-weather outdoor Super Bowl will take place in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange expressed surprise today after the European Commission (EC) said a block on processing donations for his organisation by credit card companies was unlikely to have violated EU anti-trust rules.

Major stock market indexes have climbed as investors waited for the finish of a closely fought US presidential election.

Ryanair is annoyed that the European Commission doesn’t use the airline to get its staff from A to B, but maybe Michael O’Leary’s caustic insults and failure to acknowledge his company’s flaws is not the best way to court its custom, writes Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill

American Express card holders used their cards more and spent more in the third quarter than a year earlier, the company said, crediting those increases for a 13% jump in its net income.

American Express is making travellers’ cheques available in Chinese yuan, it announced today.

The last time Ernie Els won at Doral in Miami he went on to win The Open four months later.

Ernie Els bounced back into the big time today when he ended two years without a win at the WGC-CA Championship in Miami.

Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z are the top-earning couple in Hollywood.

Courtney Love’s dramatic lost weight has sparked fears for her health.

Some of Wall Street’s earnings anxiety is easing – the market had its second moderate advance in a row today, rising after companies including United States Steel and American Express managed to post profits in a difficult recession.

A DUBLIN hotels chain in fashionable Ballsbridge is offering customers family rooms for two adults and two children from €20 per night in a promotion designed to put “bums on seats”.

Experts are warning that economic activity in the longest US recession in 25 years could plunge as much as 6% this quarter – the largest decline since 1982.

Wall Street pulled back again today in muted trading ahead of the holiday, as another round of reports showed further deterioration in the housing market and broader economy.

A number of websites do not enforce adequate security for online payments, leading to a greater risk of identity theft and fraud, according to analysis from Deloitte Enterprise Risk Services.

The US Federal Reserve granted American Express’ request to become a commercial bank today, opening the door for the credit card giant to accept deposits and permanently access financing.

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON is on course to become Ireland’s top-earning sportsman of all time after his latest win in one of golf’s biggest competitions.

Wall Street shook off early doldrums and closed sharply higher today after another drop in oil prices encouraged investors to set aside financial sector worries and go bargain hunting across the market.

Someone checked the credit limit on a Clare man’s American Express card from Ireland, while his partner and the Las Vegas poker dealer she is accused of conspiring with to kill him and his two sons were both out of the country, a jury at the Central Criminal Court has heard.

A former Las Vegas poker dealer accused of conspiring with a Clare woman to kill her partner and his two sons told gardai he didn’t know how a contact lens case that tested positive for Ricin came to be in his cell at Limerick prison a jury at the Central Criminal Court has heard.

A Clare man whose partner is accused of hiring a hitman to kill him and his two sons has told a jury at the Central Criminal Court that he asked his partner to travel to America last year to find the woman she says had access to computers used to contact the hitman website.

CONSUMERS are paying the price for the so-called credit crunch as credit card companies jack up their interest rates as high as 22.9%.

Wall Street retrenched today, closing sharply lower as investors showed their cautious side and cashed in profits from the market's best week in nearly five years.

Wall Street ended an erratic session with a big advance today as investors uneasy about the economy were reassured by solid earnings from blue chip names including Apple and American Express.

Wall Street pulled back sharply today as investors dealt with disappointing earnings reports and renewed concerns about the mortgage lending market.

The majority of Irish people do not know what interest they are paying on credit-card bills, according to research carried out by the Financial Regulator.

Wall Street stumbled lower today as growing concerns over technology companies led jittery investors to pull money out of the market ahead of this week’s earnings reports.

Sergio Garcia has decided not to play in the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth the week before the Ryder Cup.

AMERICAN EXPRESS has taken direct control of issuing its consumer and corporate charge cards to its Irish customers.

U2 frontman and human rights activist Bono will be guest-editing British newspaper The Independent for a day, in conjunction with his anti-AIDS campaign Red.

Bono is launching a fashion brand named Red in a new bid to combat the spread of Aids in Africa.

Rock star and activist Bono today unveiled a new push to fight HIV and Aids in Africa, unveiling a partnership with several companies to offer red-themed products, proceeds of which will go toward funding anti-Aids programmes.

U2 front man and activist Bono was today poised to unveil his latest effort to combat the spread of Aids in Africa while Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was to give a speech about the war on terror.

British Rolling Stones fans with American Express credit cards have secured a coup over the rest of the public - they get first refusal on tickets for the 2006 Bigger Bang tour.

Wall Street staged an impressive rally today after the nomination of top White House economist Ben Bernanke as the next Federal Reserve chief.

THREE great golfers dominated the American Express World Championship that ended in San Francisco on Sunday night.

A MOTOR dealer in Tipperary has become the first person to be convicted of “car clocking” — selling a second-hand vehicle after reducing the reading on the milometer.