The full press release is after the jump:

American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) today announced it has agreed to acquire Revolution Money, a Revolution LLC company.

Revolution Money, launched by AOL Co-founder Steve Case’s Revolution LLC in 2007, provides secure payments through an internet based platform. No names or account numbers appear on Revolution cards and transactions are authorized by using a PIN number. The company’s online person-to-person payment accounts are FDIC insured and ideally suited for social and instant messaging networks. It also offers a prepaid card linked to those accounts that can be used for offline payments or to withdraw cash from ATMs throughout the United States.

“New payments products and platforms are evolving rapidly and it’s important for us to keep identifying Cutting Edge technologies that can extend our leadership beyond the traditional payments arena,” said Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and chief executive officer of American Express. “While Revolution Money is a young and relatively small company, we believe it has big potential. This is a smart, nimble business. It’s run by an accomplished management team who have quickly developed some cutting edge e-payment offerings. Joining with American Express will help unlock their potential, while allowing us to deliver competitive online payment products more rapidly and efficiently.”

“Revolution Money has a lot of room to grow as it competes head-to-head with other online and person-to-person payment providers. We are committed to using our global brand recognition, marketing reach and network expertise to help reach a critical mass of customers,” said Mr. Chenault.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory review, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010. The purchase price is expected to be approximately $300 million. Upon closing, Revolution Money would operate as a subsidiary of American Express and be the first component of its recently formed Enterprise Growth organization. Enterprise Growth was formed to leverage American Express’ existing assets and capabilities to generate incremental fee revenue and to drive the company’s entry into new payment areas and related businesses.

The company previously raised $50 million Series B in September 2007. Thus far Revolution Money raised $92 million.

The idea behind Revolution Money is to lower credit card charges and other payment transfers. Merchants are charged an 0.5% transaction fee.

“It’s a vote of confidence from the insiders and we were able to bring in this affiliate of Goldman [a new investor],” stated Leonsis. “It’s such a big opportunity and big play. There hasn’t been a new entrant since PayPal, which was about a dozen years ago.”

Revolution Money’s two products are called RevolutionCard and RevolutionMoneyExchange. RevolutionCard is a credit card that charges the 0.5% per transaction which is compared to the 1.5% to 4% fee normally charged to traditional companies.

Revolution MoneyExchange is a P2P payment system that allows users to exchange money for free. MoneyExchange has about 400,000 registered users since the service started.

[via WSJ]