X is looking to advance the use of its new X Money payments platform by forcing creators who are taking part in its Original Content Rewards and subscriptions programs to accept their payouts via X Money. And for U.S. creators at least, the platform is offering no alternative payment process.
As X announced via the X Creators account in the app: “Starting today, U.S. payouts for Original Content Rewards and Subscriptions will be paid through X Money.”
X said that the benefit of this is that creators will be able to access their payouts the moment they’re sent, rather than having to wait to reach a certain payout threshold before they can cash out.
That also means that anyone looking to get paid by X will need to verify their phone number in the app in order to qualify for an X Money account, while they'll also have to be a paying X Premium subscriber. Though in order to be eligible for the creator monetization program, you also need to be an X Premium subscriber, so no real change in requirements.
Non-U.S. participants in the Original Content Rewards program will continue to access their payments via Stripe.
X Money launched in beta in November 2025, and has since seen an expanded roll-out in the U.S. after X established a payment support agreement with Cross River Bank in order to address regulatory concerns.
Cross River now powers X Money accounts, including its Visa debit card, which enables ATM withdrawals from X Money profiles. However, that also means that X Money isn’t an independent entity, but instead benefits from the regulator-approved payment systems established by the provider.
X has faced many hurdles in working to secure approval for its payments offering, with some states refusing to approve X’s money transmitter application due in part, to the company’s stakeholder links to Middle East backers.
The agreement with Cross River Bank allowed X to move to the next stage, though right now, X Money is only available in the U.S., limiting the capacity for X to make this a more significant element of its in-app experience.
Either way, X is looking to solidify its payments element, by establishing X Money as the only payment option for U.S. users.
At the same time, X is also dealing with heightened security concerns around the increased transmission of payments within the app.
Earlier this week, TechCrunch reported that hackers have ramped up their attempts to access X accounts in order to access users’ X Money details.
X is working to address this, but it’s another challenge that the company will have to deal with as it works towards making X an “everything app,” with payments forming a central part of its expanded usage push.
