In late November, X, the company formerly known as Twitter, acquired three more money transmitter licenses for Kansas, South Dakota, and Wyoming, bringing its licensure total to 12 states for payments processing.
This follows Musk’s efforts to transform X into a payments platform where users can access checks, debit cards, high-yield money market accounts, and loan services, with a longer-term goal of sending cross-border payments in real time.
According to an audio recording of a meeting obtained by The Verge, Musk suggested that a bank account will no longer be necessary once X payments are running at full capacity.
“When I say payments, I actually mean someone’s entire financial life,” Musk said on the recording. “If it involves money, it’ll be on our platform. Money or securities or whatever. So, it’s not just like send $20 to my friend. I’m talking about, like, you won’t need a bank account.”
“With money transmitter licenses in 12 states, X, formerly Twitter, is on its way toward attempting to become a player in the payments space,” said Daniel Keyes, Senior Analyst of Merchant Services at Javelin Strategy & Research.
“But even once X acquires all of its desired licenses, the company will have a tough time breaking into the competitive and complex payments industry given its inexperience in the space and lack of a unique payments hook for consumers.”