X is pushing adoption of its X Money payments platform by requiring creators in its Original Content Rewards and subscriptions programs to take payouts through it. For U.S. creators there is no alternative. X Money creator payouts are now a single path.
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." Non-U.S. participants in the Original Content Rewards program continue to receive payments via Stripe.
X frames the benefit as speed — creators can access payouts the moment they're sent instead of waiting to clear a cashout threshold.
To get paid by X, creators must verify a phone number in the app to qualify for an X Money account, and must be a paying X Premium subscriber. Since eligibility for the creator monetization program already requires X Premium, the practical bar hasn't moved much.
X Money launched in beta in November 2025 and expanded in the U.S. after X established a payment support agreement with Cross River Bank to address regulatory concerns. Cross River now powers X Money accounts, including the Visa debit card that enables ATM withdrawals.
That also means X Money isn't an independent entity — it rides on regulator-approved payment rails established by its provider. X has hit repeated obstacles securing approval, with some states refusing its money transmitter application partly over the company's stakeholder links to Middle East backers. The Cross River deal unlocked the next stage, but X Money remains U.S.-only, which caps how central it can become to the in-app experience.
More payments moving inside the app has raised the stakes. TechCrunch reported this week that hackers have ramped up attempts to compromise X accounts specifically to reach users' X Money details. X is working on it, but it's a permanent tax on the "everything app" ambition.
Pulling payments inside the app is less about creator convenience than about retention and account conversion. Creators have to keep Premium to get paid, and a wallet inside the app raises the cost of leaving.
Not much changes for advertisers today, but the pieces X would need for in-app commerce keep landing. It's the same direction as opening a chatbot account API that turns DMs into a service desk and reviving lead gen ads with pre-filled forms: service, capture and payment stitched into one app.
Not for Original Content Rewards or subscription earnings — X Money is the only route. Participants outside the U.S. continue to be paid via Stripe.
A phone number verified in the app and a paid X Premium subscription. Since creator monetization already requires Premium, the added requirement is minimal.
The U.S. only at present. The Cross River Bank payment support agreement resolved the regulatory blockers that enabled the U.S. rollout.
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