Elon Musk Publicizes Plan to Create “Efficient” Financial System

Elon Musk has made public his plans to create a financial system that will be more efficient than traditional banking. Musk made this known during a Twitter Space where he explained that he is out to create a better product and not just to disrupt the industry for disruption’s sake.

While responding to a question about his new plans, the Twitter CEO explained he intends to create a better financial product to improve people’s quality of life. According to him, PayPal, which is a globally recognized payment giant, does not fulfill its potential.

Musk is on record for criticizing PayPal over a proposed policy to fine users on issues bothering around misinformation. The payment processing giant later withdrew the notice, claiming it was transmitted in error. He believes the payment giant could offer more than it currently delivers to the public.

Musk said,

“What people see in PayPal is sort of like a half-baked version of what it could be, and so I think there is potential to create a more efficient financial system.”

According to Musk, today’s financial system is a heterogeneous set of databases running on mainframes that still engage in batch processing. He thinks such a system is inefficient, as transactions are still not processed in real-time.

Musk believes having a much more efficient, homogenous, real-time data system is possible. He emphasized that money is just information and is one of the elements for fulfilling his vision for “X”, his planned financial solution.

Musk’s involvement with the financial industry goes back to the days of X.com, an online banking company he started. The company later merged with Confinity, a software company, to form PayPal. From his comments, X is about to return to the front burner of payment systems.

Users believe Musk’s history with PayPal could give him an edge, allowing him to re-enter the online banking sector with the experience of hindsight and better preparation.