- The Washington Times - Thursday, March 7, 2024

More users will soon be able to pay their bills on X, says the platform’s owner, Elon Musk.

He made the announcement Wednesday at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, saying X will receive additional payment licenses in the next few months, this time in New York and California.

If X secures those permits, they would be another step toward Mr. Musk’s dream of making X an everything app — housing different services, from shopping to social media and money transfers.

If X can secure payment licenses in all 50 states, it could open a wealth of opportunities for the site to expand into financial services.

For Mr. Musk, the introduction of payment services to X means a lot more than transferring a few dollars. Last year, he said he wanted to make sure that users can put their “entire financial life” on X.

“If it involves money, it’ll be on our platform. Money or securities or whatever,” he said in October. “So, it’s not just like send $20 to my friend. I’m talking about, like, you won’t need a bank account.”

Using X for financial services might be a hard sell for users unwilling to pay $8 a month for verification on the site.

But X is on the road to full approval for payment services, having already secured approval in Utah and Pennsylvania.

Since taking the reins at what was once Twitter, Mr. Musk has expanded the site significantly. Under his leadership, he has partnered with companies to provide X users with easy access to stock trading and sports betting.

• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.

Click to Read More and View Comments

Click to Hide