American Express to buy GE unit

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finance the business. The acquisition is expected to close at the end of March.

The planned acquisition follows American Express' purchase in December 2006 of Harbor Payments, a privately held payment systems company that allows businesses to pay wholesalers electronically.

American Express Chief Executive Ken Chenault has been working to make the company's earnings more stable since 2001, when a slowing Economy cratered American Express' net income.

But even with those efforts, American Express has exposure to economic downturn. The company reported a 6 percent decline in fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations after taking a $438 million charge for deteriorating credit in its U.S. card services business.

Corporate Payment Services, part of GE's GE Money unit, handled more than $14 billion in purchases worldwide last year and extended $1.1 billion in loans. Its billed business has grown 18 percent, compounded, over the last five years.