Twitter to replace your bank? Elon Musk wants X to roll out a financial and payment feature in one year

Elon Musk envisions X (formerly Twitter) to become the focal point of your financial universe, managing all aspects of your financial matters. During an all-hands call on Thursday, he informed X employees that he anticipates these features to be launched by the end of 2024, expressing that individuals will be astounded by its remarkable capabilities.

In Musk's words, as heard in the audio recording of the meeting obtained by The Verge, "When I refer to payments, I'm actually talking about someone's complete financial existence. If it involves money, it will be integrated into our platform, whether it's money, securities, or anything else. So, it's not just about sending $20 to a friend; I'm referring to a scenario where you won't require a bank account."

CEO Linda Yaccarino of X remarked that the company envisions this as a "full-fledged opportunity" in 2024. Musk emphasised that it would be astonishing if they didn't have this fully rolled out by the end of the next year.

Currently, the company is working on obtaining money transmission licenses across the United States to offer financial services. Musk shared his hope with employees on Thursday that the remaining prerequisites for X will be secured in the "next few months."

Musk has previously discussed his aspirations to transform X into a financial hub. He even renamed the platform after his dot-com era online bank, X.com, which later became a part of PayPal. His vision for the platform includes offering high-yield money market accounts, debit cards, checks, and loan services, with the ultimate aim of enabling users to "send money anywhere in the world instantly and in real-time."

Musk's thoughts seem to hark back to his original plan for X.com. He stated during the internal X call on Thursday, "The X/PayPal product roadmap was drafted by myself and David Sacks back in July of 2000. Strangely, once PayPal became part of eBay, not only did they fail to implement the rest of the roadmap, but they actually reversed some key features, which is rather astonishing. So, in reality, PayPal is now a less comprehensive product than what we had conceived 23 years ago in July 2000."

The transformation of X into a comprehensive hub for financial services is closely aligned with Musk's overarching goal of shaping the platform into an "everything app," akin to super apps like WeChat in China that provide access to shopping, transportation, and a multitude of other services.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Elon Musk introduced two fresh subscription options for X. These include a Premium+ tier, catering to users who are willing to pay for an ad-free experience.

The Premium+ subscription, priced at approximately $16 per month, encompasses all the tools and features provided by the platform, with the notable absence of advertisements, as detailed in a company post on the platform. This premium tier is currently accessible exclusively via web browsers. Concurrently, a basic subscription is offered at $3 per month, although it does not provide an ad-free browsing experience.

X is also exploring the integration of video and audio calling features for select users, as part of its ongoing efforts to transform the platform into an all-encompassing application.

Also Read Elon Musk's social media platform X rolls out audio, video calling for some users