X's Quest To Become a Super App

→ What’s Happening

X Obtains More State Money Licenses

• In August, X (formerly Twitter) obtained money transmitter licenses in two additional states: Maryland, Georgia, and Rhode Island
• This brings X’s total money license count to seven (other states include Arizona, Michigan, Missouri, and New Hampshire) as X continues to pursue becoming a nationwide payments app
• As a payments app, insiders say X will focus first on fiat currency transactions but eventually integrate cryptocurrency functionality as well
• Elon Musk purchased what was formerly known as Twitter in October 2022 and filed paperwork in November 2022 to be able to move towards becoming a payments processor

→ Our Thoughts

To an innocent bystander, some of the recent changes Musk has made with what used to be Twitter may seem random (a social media app systematically acquiring money licenses? what?) – but they’re actually not. If you dig a little deeper into the history of X.com, you’ll find that it has long been Musk’s goal to create a super app. In 1999 he founded an online bank called X.com that he hoped would become a “a one-stop everything-store for all financial needs: banking, digital purchases, checking, credit cards, investments, and loans.” Although X.com later merged with another company (which became the well-known PayPal) and never blossomed into what Musk had hoped it would be, his vision certainly didn’t die. We can see now, 10 months after Musk’s purchase of Twitter, that his dreams for a super app are moving forward again.?

The question remains, will Musk’s plans work this time around? And maybe the bigger question is, will any financial super app succeed in the United States in 2023 and beyond?

Super apps have already become quite popular in other parts of the world, like in Asia. But the places and markets where super apps have hit it off with the general public are arguably quite different from the United States. Although there are obviously a few giants within the fintech sector in the U.S., company competition remains high (hence a prevalent start-up culture). Many fintechs exist today because of their ability to specialize in very specific areas or services. This reality alone makes us wonder if any one of them is capable of becoming “the best” at enough different services to succeed as a super app. In addition, the average American has over five different bank accounts and uses multiple financial apps regularly. Although it may sound less complicated to have all your financial entities and services tied into one app, most Americans have proven that they’re more interested in having variety and choice. In our opinion, a super app doesn’t stand much of a chance in that kind of environment.?

So, will former Twitter become what Musk hoped X.com would become back in the early 2000s? We won’t be surprised if it does. Will it be a hit? Only time will tell, but we suspect it won’t be.