This week, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. and ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, pressed Visa for detailed plans and documents related to transactions to provide payment services for Elon Musk’s social media platform X as it prepares to launch a digital wallet.
According to a March 6 letter, Blumenthal pointed to Musk's role in weakening the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the consumer watchdog that will become the main regulator of X Company's payment service "XMoney", as one of the reasons for the information request.
Blumenthal wrote: "Given Mr.
In late January, Visa announced that it had agreed to provide support for peer-to-peer payments on the X platform. The Senate request for information later emerged as one of the first signs of scrutiny of Visa, which operates the world's largest credit card network. Days after the deal was disclosed, staff at Musk's Department of Government Effectiveness gained access to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's data systems, sparking accusations that Musk wanted to undermine future regulators and that he might steal trade secrets from competitors of his fledgling XMoney service.
The letter, addressed to Visa CEO Ryan McInerney, also expressed doubts that the social media network, known for "bots, scams and hate speech," can prevent scams and fraud from spreading on its platform. Musk acquired the platform, then called Twitter, in 2022.
"These concerns cast doubt on X's ability to protect consumers from fraud and scams as it becomes involved in the financial sector," Blumenthal wrote.
"As the world's largest payments processor, Visa has a legal responsibility to ensure that its network is free from financial crimes such as scams and fraud, money laundering, and terrorism financing," he said.
Blumenthal asked Visa to detail its plans to implement payments capabilities on the X platform, including the service's business model and Visa's role in complying with regulatory requirements regarding money laundering and illegal remittances.
He also pressed Visa for "all records" related to the transaction, as well as records of communications between Company X, Visa, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau personnel.
Representatives for Visa and Company X were not immediately available for comment.