Skip to content
With many top advertisers temporarily suspending their ad spending on Twitter, Elon Musk is desperately looking for new ways for the social media platform to make money. While subscriptions are a massive part of Musk’s vision for Twitter, apparently, he also plans on making Twitter a bank at some point, which would function like Paytm.
As per a report published by The Verge, Elon Musk, in his first official meeting with the remaining staff of Twitter, has revealed that he is intent on turning Twitter into a bank, complete with what he describes as a “high-yield money market account,” debit cards, checks, and loans.
However, the core idea of that side of Twitter will be to facilitate payments. “I think there’s this transformative opportunity in payments,” the report quoted Musk said at the meeting. He also added that they would “enable people on Twitter to send money anywhere in the world instantly and in real-time. We want to make it as useful as possible.”
Musk’s Twitter Bank will be a service reserved for Twitter Blue subscribers if it comes to fruition. Whether it will have a separate fee or will be included without any additional charges is something that Twitter needs to work on.
In all likelihood, Twitter would work as a Payment Service by giving verified Twitter Blue subscribers the ability to have a digital wallet, or a balance, which they can use to send money to “anywhere in the system.” That could mean tipping other users or paying for paywalled video content. This money can also be used to transition with Twitter’s partner, which may include additional services.
For places that don’t accept Twitter payments, Musk says you’ll get a debit card tied to your balance and even traditional checks if you want them. “If you address everything you want from a finance standpoint, then we will be the people’s financial institution,” he added.
While it’s hard to imagine the average Twitter user wants to use the platform as a bank, the idea isn’t entirely out of the blue. Musk has said he wants to turn Twitter into “X, the everything app.” Also, let’s not forget that Musk has a history with banking, as he helped found PayPal, the platform that revolutionized online banking and payments.
