American Express to buy internet-based payment network Revolution Money
American Express has announced plans to buy Revolution Money from America Online founder Steve Case. Revolution Money is an online payment system that offers free online money transfers and PIN-based cards with significantly lower merchant fees.
“We want to provide a range of options and choices for our customers and our merchants,” Kenneth Chenault, CEO of American Express said. “This [the purchase] is the opportunity to offer a debit product, not only through AmEx, but also through bank partners.”
Revolution Money was created to mimic the capabilities of social networking sites such as Facebook to cheaply process millions of transactions in person-to-person payments.
“This is such a great opportunity for us,” Ted Leonis, Revolution Money chairman said. “American Express has a large customer base that’s accustomed to innovation.”
