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Ever since Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, the plans to turn Twitter into an everything app have been set in motion. The billionaire first announced plans to integrate the payments feature into the social media platform, resulting in another revenue stream for Twitter. In 2023, the master plan to turn Twitter into an everything app has eventually begun to take shape.
The strategic alliance is global, and therefore, all Twitter users worldwide will be able to use the $Cashtags feature to track the prices of cryptocurrencies and other assets. The integration of the $Cashtags feature aligns with the broader plan of Twitter to turn the platform into a financial service provider, ultimately leading Twitter into the super app space.
Notably, X Corp (previously Twitter) is not the only firm seeking to become a super app. PayPal and Walmart are among the other US-based firms that are teasing their own versions of super apps over the last few years. The potential entry of X Corp into the super app space in 2023 means that the three firms could find themselves competing to monetize the financial lives of millions of people globally.
However, one of the major concerns for X Corp and others like PayPal and Walmart in the super app space is the fact that the business model has failed to materialize in the United States and Europe. In Asia, where the super app business model has flourished over the years and the likes of WeChat have achieved widespread success in the segment, part of the success was due to the less developed banking and payment infrastructure. This, coupled with a large unbanked population meant that the gap was being filled by the emergence of super apps like WeChat.
The United States, on the other hand, has a well-developed banking ecosystem and payment infrastructure. Furthermore, the unbanked population is also relatively small compared to Asian countries. This is the reason why PayNXT360 expects X Corp as a super app to be less relevant in the United States.
Another challenge that X Corp will have to address is consumer trust to support its ability to become relevant in the super app category. Over the last few years, there has been a growing concern about how social media platforms and other tech giants are using consumer data. The July 2022 incident, where a hacker stole the personal information of 5.4 million Twitter users by exploiting the infrastructure gap, is still fresh in the minds of people worldwide. Consequently, if X Corp (Twitter) is unable to handle the personal data of its users, consumers are highly unlikely to use the platform for payment transactions.
In the payment processing space, X Corp is also projected to face stiff competition from Apple, which has significantly expanded its presence in the segment. Be it consumer or business-focused, Apple has launched a heap of financial services products over the last few years, and the trend is projected to further continue in 2023. The presence of Apple in the space would again deter the ambitions of X Corp to become a relevant super app from the short to medium-term perspective.
Notably, the social media firm has applied for a series of licenses, which would allow the platform to process payments. While Elon Musk waits for the approval of the payment processing license, PayNXT360 expects the firm to forge more alliances and integrate more services into the platform in 2023. Overall, the competition in the super app segment is expected to intensify over the next three to four years, as behemoths like X Corp, PayPal, and Walmart seek to diversify their revenue streams amid the growing competition in the United States market.
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