The all-rounder app Musk wants to abolish banks with X Money

Martin Abgottspon

30.1.2025

Elon Musk has far more plans for X than just operating a social medium.
Elon Musk has far more plans for X than just operating a social medium.
Imago

Elon Musk is planning the next coup for his social media platform X. With the new payment service "X Money", the tech billionaire wants nothing less than to challenge the traditional banking system. A first launch in the USA is imminent.

No time? blue News summarizes for you

  • Elon Musk is launching X Money, a new payment service on his Platform X, initially in the USA.
  • Following the example of WeChat, the X platform is to become an "Everything App" that combines various everyday activities such as communication, shopping and payment in one app.
  • In the long term, Musk is planning a comprehensive expansion of the service, with additional partners and new announcements for 2025.

Elon Musk has made big plans for the platform since his takeover of Twitter in October 2022. The social network was to become a so-called "Everything App": a digital everyday companion that delivers far more than just news and posts. Now the vision is taking on ever more concrete form with the "X Money" payment service.

As X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced in a post on the X platform, a partnership with the credit card company Visa has already been sealed. This cooperation will enable users to transfer money securely and in real time to their "X Wallet" and process payments directly via the platform.

The service will initially be available in the USA in the coming months. Yaccarino did not say whether and when European users will also have access to X Money.

X Money: more than just a payment service?

This step brings Musk closer to his ambitious vision: the X platform is to be developed into an all-in-one service based on the model of the Chinese app WeChat. WeChat has long been irreplaceable in China - from ordering food and shopping to mobile payments and chats, the app covers almost all aspects of daily life. Musk also wants to transfer this functionality to X: "In China, people basically live on WeChat because it is so useful and helpful for everyday life. If we could even come close to achieving that with X, it would be a huge success."

According to Musk, X Money will go far beyond traditional payment services in the long term. The aim is to offer all financial services on the platform - including loans, mortgages and savings. Musk puts it in his usual ambitious terms: "If it has to do with money, it will be possible on our platform."

According to reports from the US business channel CNBC, other potential partners in addition to Visa have already expressed interest. However, it is not yet clear exactly which companies are involved. In her article, Linda Yaccarino promised further "big announcements" for the year 2025.

If Musk's plan succeeds, X could permanently change banking as we know it today. Experts see this step as a challenge for established financial institutions, which have already come under pressure from the success of digital payment platforms such as Apple Pay and PayPal. It remains to be seen whether Musk will turn the tech world on its head again this time - or whether his vision will meet with stronger resistance in the banking sector than in previous projects.