Britain's state-rescued Lloyds Banking Group has agreed to buy Bank of America's UK credit card division MBNA for £1.9 billion ($2.4 billion, 2.3 billion euros), it said on Tuesday.

“The acquisition... increases our participation in the expanding UK credit card market with a multi-brand strategy and advances our strategic aim to deliver sustainable growth as a UK focused retail and commercial bank," said LBG Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio in a statement announcing the acquisition.