X taps William Shatner to give out invites to its payments service, X Money

Source: TechCrunch

Overview

X Chat’s standalone app isn’t the only new service X is testing this week. The company has also begun offering select users invites to its X Money payments service, which was previously being tested internally among X employees.

Auction and Shatner’s Involvement

Instead of the typical internal rollout, X owner Elon Musk worked with actor William Shatner to invite people into the beta in exchange for a $1,000 donation to Shatner’s charity that supports children’s and veterans’ organizations.

• Shatner has been sharing information about X Money and its beta invites.
• The invites were made available via an online auction on Monday.
• Musk reshared one of Shatner’s posts with the simple caption “X Money,” and later reposted another user’s post, adding, “This will be big.”

The auction, Shatner noted, was conducted with Musk’s blessing after Shatner received payment from Musk via the X Money app. A screenshot showed Musk sending him $42—a playful nod to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

X offered 42 invites to the X Money beta to those who donated in the auction.

Access and Early Features

Auction winners will see a link to the X Money service appear in the X app, just below the Premium link. They will also be among the first to receive the metal X Money debit card, issued in partnership with Visa (TechCrunch source), which powers the person‑to‑person payments aspect of the service.

Screenshots posted by Shatner showed the X Money interface with three tabs:

• Account
• Rewards
• Activity

Buttons for making deposits, sending money, and requesting payments were also visible. Users can set up direct deposit to earn APY, with one screen indicating up to 6.00 % APY.

Deposits are held by Cross River Bank, Member FDIC, and are insured up to $250,000 per individual (as shown in Shatner’s screenshot).

Regulatory Landscape

X Payments itself is not an FDIC‑insured bank, but it has been acquiring money‑transmitter licenses across the United States. X now holds licenses in over 40 U.S. states (source). In a public all‑hands meeting in February, Musk told staff that the service would enter a limited external beta in a month or two before rolling out worldwide to all users (TechCrunch coverage).

Future Outlook

With X Chat, the company has launched a new link inside X and is testing a standalone messaging app. X Money could eventually receive its own dedicated app to compete with services such as Venmo, PayPal, and Cash App.

Musk’s interest in payments dates back to 1999, when he founded the online financial‑services startup X.com, later merged into what became PayPal. After acquiring Twitter in October 2022, Musk renamed the company X less than a year later, paying homage to his early venture.