Elon Musk sees Twitter becoming a quasi-bank

Elon Musk. Photo / Getty Images

A string of top executives have quit Twitter as new boss Elon Musk suggested the social media app could be transformed into a quasi-bank.

On a call with staff, Musk said there was a “transformative opportunity in payments” and suggested allowing people to link a debit card to their Twitter account, according to The Verge news website.

Musk, who first made his fortune at PayPal, has talked in the past about turning Twitter into an “everything app” that can handle financial services as well as chat akin to China’s WeChat.

The comments came as Twitter’s moderation chief Yoel Roth and interim head of sales Robin Wheeler stepped down, just 24 hours after appearing on a public call with Musk to support his vision for Twitter’s future.

On the same call with staff, Musk warned that Twitter could face bankruptcy next year unless it finds new ways to drive revenues.

He struck a more positive tone on Twitter, saying yesterday that the rollout of paid-for blue verification ticks was “overall proceeding well”, though admitted it “needs some tweaks”.

Earlier this week Twitter began charging US$8 ($13) for a blue tick next to people’s user names, which is meant to signify that their identity had been officially verified.

However, a chaotic rollout saw an influx of pranksters posing as major companies, politicians and even Fred & Rose West, the Gloucester murderers.

An internal note for Twitter staff said the new US$8 Twitter Blue subscription had been paused, tech news site Platformer reported.

“An update on what we did tonight: hid the entry point to Twitter Blue, added the ‘official’ label for ONLY advertisers,” the note said, whose contents were first reported by tech news site Platformer.

It marks an about-turn from Musk. Grey ticks for companies and public figures were introduced earlier this week before being scrapped. Their return is part of efforts to convince advertisers that Twitter remains a safe place to spend money under Musk. Several major companies have paused spending on the site since his takeover.