Twitter’s quest to become a payment company has taken its first major step with license acquisition. The company announced Wednesday that it has been granted money transmitter licenses by three US states namely: Missouri, Michigan, and New Hampshire.

Early this year, Twitter made a move to onboard payment into its services as part of Elon Musk’s push to create everything app dubbed X, which was incorporated earlier this year.

A state-approved money transmitter license grants official authorization to an entity or individual to legally participate in the money transmission or payment instrument business.

The aim is to make Twitter a money transmitter in all 50 US states, before expanding the service outside the US – pending approval from regulatory authorities.

The three states’ licenses have set the ball rolling for the social media app, which until its acquisition in October last year by Musk, was solely a space for real-time conversations online.

According to Musk, Twitter aims to launch a payments system by the end of the year, following approvals from both the United States and international markets.

In April, eToro, a social trading company, announced that it has partnered with Twitter to offer financial services within the platform. The partnership would allow Twitter users to access stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other financial assets.

With the licenses, Twitter can now offer financial services such as issuing prepaid cards and providing remittance services involving foreign currencies.

NEWS: Twitter has finally secured its first money transmitter licenses in several US states. pic.twitter.com/gziiRgelYU

— X News Daily (@xDaily) July 5, 2023

Musk’s “Everything App” vision is tied to X.com — a payment company he started and eventually merged with PayPal. He had last April, set up a trio of holding companies in Delaware with a variation of the name “X Holdings”, as part of his bid to acquire Twitter.
Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter but admitted that it was overpriced. He said in a tweet that buying the company was an “accelerant to creating X, the everything app.”

The Everything App mirrors China’s WeChat app, which has a comprehensive combination of various functionalities such as social media, payments, news, and messaging.

The money transmitter licenses were approved by the states at a time when Meta was launching Threads, a real-time conversation platform that CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to offer as an alternative to Twitter. The app has recorded 10 million users since it was launched by Instagram on Wednesday.

Zuckerberg said he intends to increase the number of Thread users to 1 billion. “It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully, we will,” he said.

However, the news of the money transmitter licenses offers solace to Twitter for the chaos the company experienced during the weekend, following a decision by Musk to limit the number of tweets users can view within the app.

President Bola Tinubu has signed an executive order, abolishing the 5% telecom Excise tax as well as Excise Duty taxes on locally manufactured goods and services.

The move was announced by the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications, and Strategy, Dele Alake, on Thursday during a media briefing at the State House in Abuja.

The president also signed three other executive orders, addressing tax policy concerns. They are as follows:
(I) The Finance Act (Effective Date Variation) Order, 2023, which has now deferred the commencement date of the changes contained in the Act from May 28, 2023, to September 1, 2023. This is to ensure adherence to the 90 days minimum advance notice for tax changes as contained in the 2017 National Tax Policy.

(II) The Customs, Excise Tariff (Variation) Amendment Order, 2023. This has also shifted the commencement date of the tax changes from March 27, 2023, to August 1, 2023, and also in line with the National Tax Policy.

(III) The President has given an Order suspending the 5% Excise Tax on telecommunication services as well as the Excise Duties escalation on locally manufactured products.

(IV). Further to his commitment to creating a business-friendly environment, the President has ordered the suspension of the newly introduced Green Tax by way of Excise Tax on Single Use Plastics, including plastic containers and bottles. In addition, the President has ordered the suspension of the Import Tax Adjustment levy on certain vehicles.

The federal government said these decisions are in line with the President’s promise to run a government that will not make life difficult for Nigerians or asphyxiate corporate entities.

The move comes on the heels of the government’s decision to raise taxes and its efforts to curb multiple taxation.

“We wish to state that the intentions behind upward adjustments of some of these taxes are quite noble. They were designed to raise revenue as well as address environmental and public health concerns. However, they have generated some significant challenges for affected businesses, and elicited serious complaints amongst key stakeholders and in the business community,” Aleke said.

Manufacturers and business owners have decried the government’s decision to raise and expand the tax net amid growing economic headwinds orchestrated by fuel subsidy removal and the floating of the foreign exchange market.

Inflation, which stood at 22.41% as of May, is estimated to rise to 30% soon as a result of the policy reforms. This is expected to further squeeze the meager spending power of Nigerians.

Against this backdrop, the federal government has seen itself caught between the devil and the deep blue sea as it pushes to generate more revenue through taxation. The government has introduced an N1,000 Proof of Ownership Certificate levy for vehicles and has announced a partnership with the Market Traders Association of Nigeria (MATAN) to collect VAT from traders and the informal sector.

To ameliorate the impact of these policy reforms, the federal government has been advised to conduct an upward review of the minimum wage to boost spending power through a living wage. The government, however, said it is working with Civil Society Organizations to develop a workable framework for sustainable minimum wage.