X Taps Visa as first digital-wallet partner for ‘everything app’

Elon Musk struck a deal with Visa Inc., naming the payments company the first major partner on his mission to turn X into an “everything app.”

Visa will help X users load money onto digital wallets — part of a long-teased X Money payments system, according to a post on the social media platform. Visa will link customers’ debit cards so they can send money to each other, and allow them to instantly transfer funds to a bank account.

A payments network is a key pillar for an app intended to let users shop online, send money to friends or businesses and use X accounts to make purchases in physical stores. But Musk’s company faces stiff competition from peer-to-peer payment services such as PayPal Holdings Inc.’s Venmo and bank-backed Zelle, as well as Apple Inc.’s wallet, which remains the most-used service.

X Payments, a wholly-owned X subsidiary, has been working toward regulatory approval for payments since before Musk took control of the company in 2022, and is now approved for money transmitter licenses in 41 states, according to the company’s website. 

Musk has often said that X needs revenue other than advertising, which has historically made up the majority of sales but has slowed considerably since he took over. He’s also said that X could become the largest financial institution in the world, and has talked publicly about giving users an “extremely high yield” on money stored in their X account.

X plans to give users access to a digital dashboard on its website and mobile app that will serve as a centralized hub for all payments activity, Bloomberg reported last year. That’s the place X users will be able to send and receive money, store funds and view past transactions.