X partners with Visa for instant funding

X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, heralded a breakthrough partnership with Visa. X CEO Linda Yaccarino took to the platform on Jan. 28, 2025, to herald the "milestone for the Everything App," explaining that Visa is the first partner to sign on for the X Money Account, set to debut later this year.

The offering, Yaccarino noted, will allow for secure and instant funding to X wallets via Visa Direct.

Visa, which also took to X to announce the partnership, said Visa Direct will make it possible for US X Money Account users to fund and transfer money in real-time with their debit cards and instantly transfer money to their bank accounts.

It's unclear whether X Money will become available to consumers in other countries, or through other payment partners. An exact date for the U.S. launch of X Money has yet to be announced.

Returning to his P2P roots

Since purchasing Twitter and rebranding it as X, Elon Musk has signaled a desire to get back into the payments space. In 1999, he created a company called X.com, an online bank that soon merged with Confinity, which eventually became PayPal.

As owner of X, Musk has hinted at using it, via X Money, to compete with peer-to-peer payment apps like PayPal, and its subsidiary Venmo. He also is big on cryptocurrency, especially Dogecoin, suggesting at times that it could become a payment option on X.

In her post on X, Yaccarino described the arrangement with Visa as the "first of many big announcements about X Money this year."

Merging social media and payments

"Elon Musk's long-term goal is to merge social content with payment rails, making X Money an 'in feed checkout' solution rather than a mere payment gateway," said Richard Crone of Crone Consulting LLC. "Embedding payments directly into social threads can reduce cart abandonment, tying user engagement to actual purchases in a verifiable 'attribution audit trail'."

Reactions on X to the Visa partnership were positive, bordering on ecstatic, for example:

"This isn't just a feature – it's a step toward X's ultimate vision as a one-stop platform for social, payments, and more. With Visa's backing, X is positioning itself as the app that integrates all aspects of daily life," posted an X user who goes by the handle CEO Branding Expert.

Money transmitter licenses key

X has been working on obtaining money transmitter licenses, on a state-by-state basis, which it would need to become a full-functioning P2P service. Money transmitter licenses are issued on the state level.

Money transmitter businesses, however, must abide by certain federal laws such as the Bank Secrecy Act, and consumer disclosure requirements set forth by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

According to the company's website, X has so far garnered money transmitter licenses in 40 states.

Whether you want to upgrade your POS offerings, find a payment gateway partner, bone up on fintech regs or PCI requirements, find an upcoming trade show, read about faster payments, or discover the latest innovations in merchant acquiring, The Green Sheet is the resource for you. Since 1983, we've helped empower and connect payments professionals, starting with the merchant level salespeople who bring tailored payment acceptance and digital commerce tools, along with a host of other business services to merchants across the globe. The Green Sheet Inc. is also a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals.

Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact information, links and other details may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.