Twitter is testing the Tip Jar feature that allows users to send money to their preferred accounts

According to The Verge, to use the solution, consumers have to tap on the freshly added USD bill icon next to someone’s username when viewing their profile on one of Twitter’s mobile apps. Android users will also be able to send money in Twitter’s Clubhouse-like Spaces. Moreover, Tip Jar supports a variety of payment options and links such as Bandcamp, Cash App, Patreon, PayPal, and Venmo. Besides, Twitter is using those services’ external payment processors for transactions, therefore it doesn’t take a cut. 

Furthermore, although all English language Twitter users can send tips since 6 May 2021, only a select group – including creators, journalists, experts, and nonprofits – can turn on the feature to accept money for now. Notably, the only way to access Tip Jar right now is through navigating to a user’s profile, meaning that sending someone some money for a  tweet will still take a bit more effort than liking or retweeting it, for instance.

Overall, there are already some issues that Twitter will have to work out. For example, sending tips through PayPal using Tip Jar currently allows whoever is sending the money to see the recipient’s address, which is a worrying security issue that Twitter and PayPal will hopefully resolve soon. 

In an update, Twitter’s Support account acknowledged the issue, tweeting that it was 'updating their tipping prompt and Help Center to make it clearer that other apps may share info between people sending/receiving tips, per their terms', The Verge reported.