The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that students eligible for free or reduced price school meals cannot be charged processing fees beginning in 2027.

School districts currently work with processing companies to offer cashless payment systems for families. But the companies can charge “processing fees” for each transaction. By law, students who are eligible for reduced price meals cannot be charged more than 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch. With processing fees, however, families can end up paying 10 times that amount. Processing companies charge as much as $3.25 or 4% to 5% per transaction, according to a recent report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

For families with lower incomes who can’t afford to load large sums in one go, processing fees can arrive weekly or even more frequently, increasing costs disproportionately. Families that qualify for free or reduced lunch pay as much as 60 cents per dollar in fees when paying for school lunches electronically, according to the report.

The new Agriculture Department’s policy becomes effective starting in the 2027-28 school year. With this rule, the USDA will lower costs for families with income under 185% of federal poverty guidelines, which equals $57,720 for a family of four.

The decision by the USDA follows a CFPB report that found online school meal payments predominantly affect low-income families. School lunch fees collectively cost families upwards of $100 million each year, according to the report.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has mandated that school districts inform families of their options since 2017, but even when parents are aware, having to pay by cash or check to avoid fees can be burdensome.

In its review of the 300 largest public school districts in the U.S., the CFPB found that 87% of sampled districts contract with payment processors. Within those districts, the companies charge an average of $2.37 or 4.4% of the total transaction, each time money is added to a child’s account.

— Associated Press

Trump Media shares surge in late trading

Shares in Donald Trump’s social media company surged in trading on Robinhood Markets’ 24-hour platform as early returns in the U.S. presidential election bolstered bets the Republican would reclaim the presidency.

Shares surged on Robinhood’s platform to $48.74 as of 10:04 p.m. in New York, running up against the 20% upper limit of trading bands implemented by Blue Ocean Technologies, which Robinhood uses to execute overnight trading orders. Based on that, the lowest possible level for the stock overnight is $32.50, a company spokesperson confirmed.

The volatility bands are important because Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. shares have swung wildly in recent weeks as investors use the stock as a proxy for Donald Trump’s election prospects.

The swings continue a string of volatility that saw shares move at least 10% in either direction during each of the past eight sessions. More than 19 million shares changed hands in regular late trading as investors used the stock to game out results from polls that began tallying votes.

Bitcoin hits record on early election results

Bitcoin jumped to a record as traders around the world watched results trickle in from a US presidential election that pits digital-asset supporter Donald Trump against Kamala Harris, who served as vice president during a government crackdown on the industry.

The original cryptocurrency rose more than 8%, rising above $75,000 as of 10:08 p.m. in New York. That topped the March record set during the euphoria that followed the launch of US spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

Bitcoin extended gains as Trump took an early lead, yet the race was far from settled late Tuesday evening. With polls closed in more than two-thirds of states, Trump had taken preliminary leads in Georgia and North Carolina, two key swing states, while vote counting in others was in its early stages.

Netflix faces fraud probe in 2 countries

Prosecutors and police investigators who specialize in fighting fraud and corruption raided Netflix offices in France and the Netherlands on Tuesday, in a probe of suspected financial wrongdoing, judicial officials said.

French and Dutch authorities have been working together for many months on the investigation centering on the suspected laundering of tax fraud and off-the-books work, said a judicial official in France who spoke on condition of anonymity because of French secrecy laws that apply to judicial probes.

French police investigators carried out searches of the streaming giant’s French headquarters, the judicial official said. The investigators from a police brigade that specializes in major tax fraud, money laundering, corruption and white-collar financial crime were accompanied by officials from the French national prosecutors’ office that also combats financial crimes, the official said.

“We are co-operating with the authorities in France, where Netflix is a significant contributor to the local economy — and we comply with the tax laws and regulations in all the countries in which we operate,” a Netflix spokesperson wrote in a statement.

— From news services