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Divestitures | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2016
Business Combination Disclosure [Abstract] |
Divestitures | 2. Business Events During the first half of 2016, the Company completed the sales of substantially all of its outstanding Card Member loans and receivable s held for sale (HFS) and recognized gains, as an expense reduction in Other expenses, of $127 million and $1.1 billion during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and June 30, 2016, respectively. The impact of the sales is reported within the investing section of the Consolida ted Statements of Cash Flows as a net decrease in Card Member receivables and loans, including held for sale.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for a business combination (or series of individually immaterial business combinations) completed during the period, including background, timing, and recognized assets and liabilities. The disclosure may include leverage buyout transactions (as applicable). + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 5 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56956515&loc=d3e1497-128463 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56956515&loc=d3e1490-128463 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56956515&loc=d3e1392-128463 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e7008-128479 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56956515&loc=d3e1486-128463 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e6927-128479 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56956791&loc=d3e4845-128472 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 6 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56956515&loc=d3e1500-128463 Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 7 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56956515&loc=d3e1524-128463 Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e7000-128479 Reference 11: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56956791&loc=d3e4922-128472 Reference 12: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56956791&loc=d3e4934-128472 Reference 13: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56956791&loc=d3e4926-128472 Reference 14: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56956515&loc=d3e1383-128463 Reference 15: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 805 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35744584&loc=d3e6996-128479 + Details
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