X taps William Shatner to give out invites to its payments service, X Money

Host A: Welcome back to Fintech Rundown, I'm here with my co-host, and we've got a story today that somehow involves Elon Musk, a payments app, and Captain Kirk himself — William Shatner.

Host B: I'm sorry, did you just say William Shatner? Like, "Beam me up, here's my Visa debit card" Shatner?

Host A: That's exactly the one. So X — formerly Twitter — has started rolling out invites to its new payments service called X Money, and instead of a standard beta signup, Musk partnered with Shatner to auction off 42 spots in the beta, with proceeds going to Shatner's charity supporting kids and veterans.

Host B: Okay, that's actually a pretty clever move — good PR, good cause, and you get a sci-fi legend hyping your fintech product. But why 42 invites specifically?

Host A: Great catch — that's a deliberate nod to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," where 42 is the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. Musk even sent Shatner exactly $42 through the X Money app to kick things off, which is both nerdy and very on-brand.

Host B: So Musk literally used the product to pay the celebrity promoting the product. That's a live demo disguised as a pop culture joke — honestly, as a marketing stunt, I kind of respect it.

Host A: Right, and what beta winners actually get is pretty interesting. They'll see X Money appear directly inside the app, and they'll also receive a metal X Money debit card co-powered by Visa, with their username printed on it.

Host B: A metal card with your username on it — that's going to appeal to a certain type of person, let's be honest. But what does the actual service look like? Is this just Venmo with a rocket ship logo?

Host A: There are three tabs — Account, Rewards, and Activity — plus options to deposit, send money, or request it. There's also a direct deposit feature where users can earn up to 6% APY, which is genuinely competitive right now. Deposits are held by Cross River Bank and are FDIC insured up to $250,000.

Host B: Okay, 6% APY is the number that'll make people pay attention. But I want to flag something for our listeners — X Money itself is not an FDIC-insured bank, right? The protection comes through that banking partner.

Host A: Exactly right, and that's an important distinction. X is operating as a money transmitter — they've got licenses in over 40 U.S. states now — but the banking infrastructure is someone else's. Musk told staff in February to expect a limited external beta within a month or two, followed by a global rollout.

Host B: And this all ties back to Musk's bigger vision of turning X into an everything app — payments, messaging, video, subscriptions. It's worth remembering he literally founded X.com back in 1999, which eventually became PayPal, so payments has been his obsession for over two decades.

Host A: He's basically trying to finish what he started. Alright, that's a wrap on this one — X Money is coming, it may have its own standalone app eventually, and William Shatner is apparently your gateway into the beta. Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

Host B: If Spock shows up to demo the rewards program, I'm fully investing. Thanks for listening to Fintech Rundown, folks — stay curious, stay skeptical, and we'll see you next time.