Elon Musk hasn’t been out of the headlines since he took over Twitter, which is probably mainly due to his ambitious plans for the social network. In the past few days, the famous blue tick for supposedly official accounts has provided plenty to talk about:
Fake Valve tweet with blue tick sparks conversation
But Twitter is set to change even further: In one conversation with the staff the new boss also spoke about the expansion of video content in order to attract content creators to the platform. Of course, this also requires financial incentives, which brings us to Musk’s third, much larger plan:
We want Twitter to become more and more the place you go every day for all your online endeavors. This includes Online-Banking-Features
Elon Musk’s plans around Twitter seem to have no end.
This is how Twitter should work as a payment service provider
Musk gets very specific around this topic. Registered users should be able to deposit money into their account, which can then be spent or sent anywhere in the Twitter ecosystem. Practical examples are also mentioned: donations for content creators or the activation of a video that is behind a paywall. Both areas that Twitter would like to expand in the future.
And what about places outside of Twitter? Elon Musk would like to have thought of that as well. In such cases, users would receive a traditional giro card that accesses the respective Twitter account balance. So you would also be able to pay in other places with your Twitter debit card.
Musk is as self-confident as he puts it on record: We will be the financial institution of the people.
When asked by an employee if that would even include making loans, Musk replies that such key elements cannot be missing if one wants to offer a comprehensive service
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Services like WeChat Pay and Paypal have to meet strict regulations, and so would Twitter.
Big plans, big hurdles
So is Twitter now becoming a real bank? That remains to be seen, for a number of reasons. First of all, Elon Musk is known for talking a lot but not realizing all his ambitions. So there’s a good chance those plans will fizzle out and we’ll never hear from them again.
Secondly, even a large company like Twitter cannot simply call itself a bank. This requires a whole range of licenses and in order to obtain them, a large number of conditions must be met. Established service providers such as Paypal or WeChat Pay can tell you a thing or two about it. And since each country has its own laws for this, the implementation of the project is likely to take some time.
So don’t expect to be staring at your Twitter account balance next week. Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that the social network will in fact take its first steps towards the financial sector soon.
Do you want to know more about Elon Musk’s recent statements and plans around Twitter? You can find all information about this in this article:
Elon Musk announces radical changes for Twitter: costs for users, layoffs for employees
Now we are particularly interested in your opinion: Would you be interested in Twitter’s online banking function and would you use it? Or do you already dismiss it and prefer to stay with Paypal and Co.? Let us know your thoughts on the topic in the comments!
