X Teams Up with Visa to Introduce Instant Payments on Social Media
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is teaming up with Visa to launch a real-time payment system called the “X Money Account.” This service will allow users to make peer-to-peer payments, utilize a digital wallet, and transfer funds to bank accounts, marking a significant step toward Elon Musk’s long-held vision of creating an “everything app.” Visa will power the service through its instant money transfer system, Visa Direct, with the U.S. launch expected later this year.
Visa has been announced as the first partner for X’s “X Money Account” service, which is scheduled to debut later this year, according to X CEO Linda Yaccarino. In a post on Tuesday, Yaccarino revealed that the offering will include an in-platform digital wallet and peer-to-peer payment options connected to users’ debit cards. Additionally, users will be able to transfer funds to a bank account seamlessly.
Visa, which also shared the news on its official X account, confirmed that the payment system will be powered by Visa Direct, the company’s real-time money transfer service. Initially, the service will be available to X Money Account users in the U.S., though plans for an international rollout and partnerships with other payment providers have not yet been disclosed. The exact launch date remains unspecified.
Yaccarino described the partnership with Visa as a “milestone for the Everything App” and teased that this is just the first of many announcements to come regarding X Money.
Elon Musk has long envisioned transforming X into a multifunctional “everything app,” akin to China’s WeChat. Musk first expressed interest in the concept in the late 1990s when he launched X.com, a financial startup that later evolved into PayPal. Although Musk’s efforts to expand PayPal were thwarted, the sale of the company to eBay in 2002 provided him with funds to invest in ventures like SpaceX and Tesla.
This latest partnership with Visa represents a significant step in realizing Musk’s ambitions for X. However, X will face stiff competition in a crowded market where social media platforms such as Facebook’s Meta are already integrating features like shopping, gaming, and payments into their ecosystems.
Furthermore, X’s aggressive push toward becoming an all-encompassing platform could attract scrutiny from regulators and rival tech giants. For instance, Apple has faced accusations from the U.S. Justice Department of leveraging its market dominance to block the emergence of super apps on its devices since 2017. Apple has denied these allegations and is currently fighting an antitrust lawsuit in federal court.
The evolution of X into a comprehensive “everything app” comes at a time when the platform is still reeling from controversies over Musk’s leadership. Since acquiring X for $44 billion in 2022, Musk’s management has faced backlash over issues like rising hate speech and misinformation, alienating both users and advertisers. How X’s new offerings will fare in this challenging environment remains to be seen.