Musk Adds Financial Features to X... Accelerates Super App Strategy and Revenue Diversification

Interest, Cashback, and Transfers Available with 'X Money'

Super App Strategy Accelerates in WeChat-like Move

Regulatory Hurdles and Delays Remain

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, is adding financial features to X, the social networking service platform (formerly Twitter) that he owns.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, will add financial features to the social networking service platform X (formerly Twitter) that he owns. Photo by AP News Agency

According to Yonhap News on April 27 (local time), citing Bloomberg and IT media outlet Gizmodo, "X Money," which combines banking and payment functions within X, is expected to be released to the public soon in an early access format.

According to users currently testing the service, X Money reportedly applies an annual interest rate of 6% for cash savings and provides 3% cashback on payments. In addition, it allows peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers without extra fees, and users can receive a Visa debit card linked to their X ID. Content creators who receive advertising revenue shares from X are also expected to use X Money instead of the existing online payment service Stripe. Furthermore, the AI assistant developed by Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI will be integrated, providing features such as expense tracking and transaction categorization.

In March, Musk stated, "The initial public access to X Money will be launched next month." Previously, he had expressed his hope that "if users want, X will become a platform they can use for everyday life." This direction is seen as similar to that of China’s WeChat, which started as a messenger app and has grown into a super app encompassing payments, ride-hailing, flight bookings, and more.

According to Bloomberg, after Musk’s acquisition, X experienced a sharp decline in advertising revenue, dropping from $4.4 billion (about 6 trillion won) in 2022 to $2.6 billion (about 3.6 trillion won) in 2024 due to advertisers leaving the platform. However, it has reportedly rebounded by about 18% in 2025. In this context, X Money is also seen as an effort to reduce reliance on advertising and diversify revenue streams.

In addition to "Ex Money," Musk is accelerating his super app strategy by continuously integrating AI-based features into X. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News.

However, obstacles remain. To operate a payment platform in the United States, it is necessary to obtain licenses for all 50 states, but X Money is reportedly still lacking payment licenses in several regions across the U.S., including New York. The slow pace of the service launch is also cited as a challenge. Richard Crone, a payment industry expert at Crone Consulting, told Bloomberg, "Musk promised this vision over two years ago, saying it would be achieved within a year," adding, "He may have already missed the window of opportunity."

Meanwhile, in addition to X Money, Musk is accelerating the super app strategy by continuously integrating AI-based features into X. On April 7 (local time), X rolled out an automatic translation feature worldwide using the Grok AI model developed by xAI. Building on the replacement of Google Translate with Grok in June last year, the new system automatically translates foreign language posts in users’ feeds without requiring them to click a translation button. Additionally, an AI photo editor that allows users to edit photos via natural language commands has been added to the iOS app.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.