X begins testing X Money payments service with limited beta

The social media company X has begun testing its new payments service, called X Money. To distribute the initial invites for the limited external beta, X owner Elon Musk worked with actor William Shatner to host an online auction on Monday. Participants secured access to the beta by making a $1,000 donation to charity, with X offering exactly 42 invites through the auction. During the promotion, Shatner demonstrated the service by receiving a $42 payment from Musk, a playful science-fiction reference. Auction winners will see a link to X Money appear in the app and will be among the first to receive a debit card featuring their username.

While X Money itself is not an FDIC-insured bank, the company has been securing money transmitter licenses—the regulatory permissions required to operate financial services—in over 40 U.S. states. The financial structure of the service includes:

• Banking partner: User deposits are held by Cross River Bank.
• Deposit insurance: Deposits are protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the US government-backed deposit insurance, up to $250,000 per individual.
• Interest earnings: Users can set up direct deposit to earn up to 6.00% APY (annual interest rate) on their balances.
• Payment processing: Person-to-person payments and debit cards are powered by partner Visa.

The payments service is a core component of Musk’s long-term strategy to build an “everything app” that integrates messaging, creator subscriptions, and financial services. Musk’s interest in digital payments dates back to 1999, when he founded the online financial services startup X.com, which later merged into the company that became PayPal. After acquiring Twitter in October 2022 and renaming it X, Musk has pushed to integrate these capabilities. During a public all-hands meeting in February, Musk told staff that the service would enter a limited external beta before going worldwide to all users. Musk highlighted the launch on the platform, posting “X Money” and adding that “This will be big.” To compete with established services like Venmo, X Money could potentially have its own standalone app.

Why it matters

The launch of X Money is a critical step in Elon Musk’s strategy to transform X into an “everything app” that integrates financial services alongside social media.