X’s plans for a payments service may extend beyond the digital realm, new data suggests. According to findings from mobile app intelligence firm AppSensa, the X app has been updated over the past few weeks with several references related to a physical debit card, which can be customized with your X username.
Dozens of new strings of code in the X app reference various actions you can take with the new debit card, including checking its shipping status, activating your card after it arrives, reporting your card lost or stolen, locking the card, setting a PIN, and more.
Multiple strings also include the terms “physical_card_option” as well as just “physical,” the data indicates.
The news follows X CEO Linda Yaccarino’s January announcement that Visa would be the company’s first partner for the X Money service, which will allow users to instantly fund their X Wallet accounts via Visa Direct. She explained that the new service would enable peer-to-peer (P2P) payments by connecting with users’ debit cards and would offer the option to instantly transfer funds to your bank account.
Yaccarino also noted that this would be the “first of many” big announcements about X Money arriving this year. This suggests that X is on a path that will see it more broadly competing with other digital banks and payment services in the near future.
To support its venture into payments, X has been registering for money transmitter licenses across the U.S. for over a year. As of December 2023, the company was licensed for payment processing in a dozen states. It has since increased its registrations to include 40 states, plus Washington, D.C.
There are other references in the X app’s code that tell us more about how this new payment card may work. For instance, some strings refer to “cashback” and others to “deferred debit.” It also appears you may be able to cancel your virtual card independently of the physical card and vice versa.
Plus, the code suggests X could be pursuing relationships with other partners, as both MasterCard and Amex are listed as supported payment card brands.
X owner Elon Musk has long envisioned the app formerly known as Twitter as more than a social network.
In November 2022, he shared his plans to turn X into an “everything app” that would include things like payments and banking, as well as better support for videos and creator content. Last year, X was spotted working on the addition of a Payments button that would be added to the site’s main navigation bar.
Musk’s interest in payments stretches far back to his co-founding of X.com, a company that later merged with the online bank Confinity to become PayPal. In 2017, he re-acquired the X.com domain and then rebranded Twitter as X in summer 2023, less than a year after his Twitter acquisition.
X has not shared when specifically it plans to announce X Money besides sometime “later this year,” per Yaccarino’s January post. She also recently told the Financial Times that X will offer investments and trading as part of its super app strategy.
X did not respond to a request for comment.
