TWITTER TO BECOME A BANK

 

Elon Musk appears determined to transform Twitter into a bank, complete with debit cards, checks, loans, and what he calls a "high-yield money market account." You can read a whole transcript of his today's last-minute meeting with staff when he discussed his plans.

During his introduction, Musk brought up the subject of payments, saying, "I think there's this transformative opportunity in payments," and adding that the objective is to "enable users on Twitter to be able to send money anywhere in the globe immediately and in real-time." Simply said, we want to make it as beneficial as we can. He stated that the function is a "high priority," along with "video content and rewarding content providers" and enhancing search.

Don't close your bank account just yet since Musk has promised to do a lot of things.

How would Twitter as a Payment Service (TaaPS) appear? Consider the possibility that each verified Twitter user would receive a balance that they could use to donate money "anywhere in the system." Theoretically, it might entail tipping other users or paying for pay-walled video material, a feature that the business is rumored to be considering.

According to Musk, Twitter will create a "high-yield money market account" so that keeping money in your Twitter balance is the best investment you can make. You'll have "one balance on Twitter that can simply go positive or a negative," according to Musk, rather than the "complicated and expensive" system of credit cards, savings and checking accounts, CDs, and the like used by traditional banks. According to him, Twitter will be able to pay more interest for positive accounts and charge less interest for negative accounts.

Well, if you want to give consumers a thorough service, you can't be leaving out essential components.

Musk claims you'll receive a debit card linked to your balance for use at merchants who don't take Twitter payments, as well as conventional checks if you want. We will serve as the financial institution for the public if you handle all of your financial concerns, he continued. The CEO said, "Well, if you want to provide a holistic service to people, then you can't be missing crucial aspects," in response to an employee who said that it seemed like Musk wants to construct a bank and inquired about if it would offer loans.

He makes the entire process seem simple in his remarks. From an information basis, he claimed, "there's not a significant difference between, example, just sending a direct message and sending a payment." Payments are essentially just the exchange of information. He does acknowledge, however, that there are legal obstacles to overcome, and the business is attempting to obtain a money transmitter license in Washington, according a Platformer story. Esther Crawford, who has been in charge of launching the new Blue service, has reportedly been made CEO of Twitter Payments, according to the article.

It's important to note that there is a significant distinction between holding user information and money. It might be a really horrible day for you if your account is hacked and your direct messages are exposed. You can find yourself unable to pay your rent if your bank is compromised.

With his leadership of companies that sell automobiles and launch rockets, both of which have the potential to be fatal if done incorrectly, Musk is no stranger to high-stakes endeavors. But there are many things that Tesla and SpaceX now lack that Twitter does. Specifically, managers and personnel in charge of safety. There have already been some cracks beginning to surface that may be related to Musk's recent decision to fire over half the workforce, which damaged crucial engineering teams. In addition, if my chief privacy officer, chief information security officer, and chief compliance officer had all recently left their positions, I might not want to navigate the moral and legal minefield that is establishing a bank.

Although it's difficult to believe the typical Twitter user would genuinely wish to use the service as a bank, the concept isn't entirely original. Musk has previously stated his desire to transform Twitter into "X, the everything app," comparable to WeChat in China. (In fact, "everything" includes banking services.) Musk has experience in banking as well; in response to a question about the company "embarking on a payments journey essentially from scratch," an employee cited the fact that Musk co-founded PayPal.

Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of Twitter, has also created a prosperous payments business called Block, which is the source of the Cash App and Square payment platforms.