Elon Musk's X to soon have its payment service

X (formerly Twitter) is reportedly readying its payment service, the first instance of which was spotted in the latest build by an app researcher. The upcoming payment service will be one of the many planned offerings Musk has earmarked for X to turn it into an “everything app”, just like WeChat in China. Integrating all consumer-facing services such as social networking, chatting, job-hunting, and payments into one app for more convenience will allow Musk-owned X to counter rivals better.

App researcher Nima Owji claims X is working on integrating a new “Payments” button to the app’s navigation bar under the bookmarks tab. According to TechCrunch, citing the researcher, one of the app builds has references for new payment features, such as “transactions, balance, and transfer.” While more details are unavailable currently, the findings confirm support for peer-to-peer transactions.

The imminent launch of the payment service in X will mark the materialisation of Musk’s vision of a platform where users could store, send, and even earn money. The feature has been in the pipeline ever since Musk took over Twitter and laid out plans to turn it into a super app. Twitter later became X as part of the vision to create a new identity for the social networking app.

The report said Musk’s X is talking to the US government to obtain money transmitter licenses, which would allow the platform to offer money exchange services. X Payments, a wholly owned X subsidiary, will be responsible for the platform’s payments service, which has already been granted licenses in the states of Alabama, California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia, among others.

X may launch the payment service in the US initially, as expanding it to more regions will require regulatory clearances. While there is no information on whether or not Musk is moving in that direction, chances for the service’s global availability are high, owing to payment offerings from rivals such as Meta.