AmEx: Financial Winners and Losers

(Updated with Paulson comments on BofA, Wells Fargo ARS settlement, Moody's downgrade of UBS.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- American Express (AXP Quote) was among the decliners in the financial sector Wednesday after the company agreed to acquire secure Internet payment platform Revolution Money for $300 million.

AmEx expects to complete the deal for Revolution Money, which was launched by AOL co-founder Steve Case's Revolution LLC in 2007, in the first quarter of 2010, following a regulatory review of the transaction.

AmEx said Revolution Money will operate as a subsidiary and will be the first component of its recently formed Enterprise Growth organization. The unit was formed to leverage American Express' existing assets and capabilities to generate incremental fee revenue and to drive the its entry into new payment areas and related businesses, AmEx said.

As is the case with most acquiring companies, AmEx's shares fell immediately after the announcement, but they rebounded to add 0.2% to $41.44.

Elsewhere in the financial sector, Citigroup (C Quote) traded higher one day after a regulatory filing showed CFO John Gerspach will see his annual base pay rise by $100,000 to $500,000.

Additionally, James Forese, Citi's co-head of Global Markets, received a pay increase of $250,000, bringing his salary to $475,000. CEO Vikram Pandit's salary will remain at $1 per year, and Vice Chairman Stephen Volk's salary remains at $500,000 per year, the bank said. Citigroup shares were lately climbing 0.7% to $4.27.

Goldman Sachs (GS Quote) traded flat after the bank's CEO apologized for mistakes that may have led to the financial crisis and the company unveiled plans to launch a $500 million program to assist small businesses.