Musk: X Close to Landing NY and CA Payment Licenses

Elon Musk says X could soon receive money transmitter licenses from New York and California.

The license from California could come in the next month or so, while New York’s approval may be “a few months away,” said Musk, whose comments Wednesday (March 6) at the Morgan Stanley technology, media and telecom conference were reported by Reuters.

These licenses would allow X — formerly Twitter — to offer payments services, part of Musk’s dream of turning the social media platform into an “everything app.”

The Reuters report notes that experts say X will first need a money transmitter license from each state. Musk has said approvals in New York and California would be the most important, two populous states known for long approval processes.

The company has gotten approvals in other states, including Pennsylvania, Utah, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming. Earlier this year, X said it planned to begin offering peer-to-peer payments on its platform.

“X is not just another app — it’s becoming the everything app, seamlessly uniting experiences into one interface, for everyone,” the company wrote in a blog post.

Musk spoke last year of his plans for the company to transform into a payments super app, according to a report by The Verge citing comments from a company meeting.

“If it involves money, it’ll be on our platform,” the multibillionaire said. “Money or securities or whatever. So, it’s not just like sending $20 to my friend. I’m talking about, like, you won’t need a bank account.”

“It would blow my mind if we don’t have that rolled out by the end of next year,” Musk added.

As PYMNTS wrote last year, there are “at least some indications that consumers are interested in digital-only channels from non-bank providers to get their payments and financial services-related activities done.”

PYMNTS Intelligence research has found that just under half of all consumers are highly interested in receiving online banking services from large organizations.

“The read across here is that should platforms and services like X add dedicated accounts to their offerings, they might see increased payments activity and an onramp to loans and high-yield savings accounts,” that report said.

However, trust is a key concern, and consumers make decisions in this realm based on whether they think their data is protected. Additional PYMNTS research has found that 59% of consumers have said they trust primary banks to protect their information, compared to PayPal at 49% and FinTechs at 3%, a sign that the platforms and digital natives could have some work ahead of them before trust is established.