Musk steers X into peer-to-peer payments

X owner Elon Musk is hearkening back to his early online-payment startup days – but with way more hair and money.

The app inked a deal with Visa, the largest US credit card network, to be the first partner for what it is calling X Money, the companies announced yesterday.

Visa will enable the app’s users to move funds between traditional bank accounts and their digital wallet and make instant peer-to-peer payments, like with Zelle, Venmo, Apple’s Tap to Cash, or…PayPal.

*Ross voice* Pivot!

X currently makes the lion’s share of its revenue from advertising. But the push by Musk – who’s had a notoriously up-and-down relationship with advertisers – to make X an “everything app” allows it to diversify its revenue away from ads.

• In a pitch deck circulated in 2022 to bankers financing his acquisition of Twitter, Musk said the app would bring in ~$1.3 billion from a payments business by 2028.
• Ad dollars would be replaced by subscription businesses and fees from the payments business, per the deck.

Between the lines: Elon Musk said growth on X is “stagnant” and revenue “unimpressive” in a January email to staff that was recently reported by the Wall Street Journal (Musk denies sending the email).

👀 Looking ahead…X Money is expected to launch sometime in Q1, and deals with more financial partners are likely. Other features on the horizon could include certain banking features, such as a high-yield money market account, per Musk.