Twitter subsidiary registers with FinCEN as a money services business

Social media giant Twitter appears to be moving deeper into the payments business, as reflected by a registration filed this month with the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Twitter registered as a money services business on Nov. 3, according to FinCEN data. FinCEN oversees the activities of money service businesses in the U.S., and registered businesses must report suspicious transactions to the agency, which is part of the Treasury Department.

The New York Times first reported the FinCEN development. The registering entity is named Twitter Payments LLC, which according to business registration data, was formed in August in Washington State. 

The filing comes shortly after Elon Musk acquired the company in a $44 billion deal. Musk has previously mused about turning Twitter into a so-called “everything app.” Musk also has talked about expanding Twitter’s service coverage to include digital payments, as reported by Reuters.

Twitter’s billionaire owner also has considered allowing users to link their bank accounts and cards to Twitter.

Musk’s payments-focused plans could ultimately make Twitter more akin to apps like China’s WeChat, the social media platform that offers mobile payments alongside messaging and other features.

WeChat Pay and competitor Alipay, offered by Alibaba’s Tencent, currently exert a duopoly over digital payments in China. The government’s central bank digital currency efforts have been linked to attempts by Beijing to limit this dominance.

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