X (formerly Twitter) appears to be making progress on its upcoming payments system, bringing it closer to Elon Musk’s vision of turning X into an “everything app.”
According to a recent finding by app researcher Nima Owji, the company is working on adding a “Payments” button to the navigation bar under the bookmarks tab. Owji, who made the discovery yesterday, told TechCrunch that he found references for new payment features, such as “transactions, balance, and transfer.”
When Musk initially acquired the social networking app formerly known as Twitter, he envisioned a platform where users could store money in their X accounts, send payments to other users, and potentially access high-yield money market accounts.
The latest finding tells us the launch of a payment service is likely soon, which is in line with Musk’s previous goal of mid-2024, which he told Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood during an interview on X Spaces in December.
Additionally, the company has been making progress on obtaining money transmitter licenses, allowing it to engage in money transfers in the U.S. Last week, X Payments (a wholly owned subsidiary of X) was granted a license in North Dakota, bringing the total number of states to 33. In July, it was approved in Alabama, California, and the District of Columbia. Others include Illinois, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia, and more.
With X facing challenges in monetizing through advertising, the payment service is the company’s attempt at an alternative source of revenue. On Tuesday, the company just filed an antitrust lawsuit against advertising groups over an advertiser boycott that resulted in significant financial losses for X.