Twitter rolls out tipping service to users globally

Twitter’s iOS apps now have a new Tip Jar feature that allows users to give money directly to their favorite accounts. The feature is rolling out globally on iOS with Android to follow in the coming weeks, according to a statement by the platform.

https://twitter.com/Twitter/status/1441085130487975952

The tipping tool, now dubbed Tips, comes with with more payment alternatives — including bitcoin – to pick from.

How to tip someone on Twitter

When visiting someone’s profile on one of Twitter’s mobile apps, tap on the newly added dollar bill icon next to their username to use the tip jar. The tip jar option will also be toggled (for those persons or groups who don’t want people sending them cash out of the blue).

Simply put, you’ll know an account has turned on Tips if you see this icon next to the Follow button on the profile page. Tap the icon, and you’ll see a list of payment services or platforms that the account has enabled, and you can select whichever you prefer. The services* available so far:

• Bandcamp
• Cash App
• Chipper
• Patreon
• Razorpay
• Wealthsimple Cash
• Venmo

Once you tap the service you want to use, you’ll be taken off Twitter to the selected app to send funds and notably, Twitter takes no cut.

Kenyans are able to take advantage of the Chipper option. The company offers mobile-based, no fee, P2P payment services in seven countries: Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa and Kenya.

“So excited that all Twitter users will soon to be able use the new Twitter Tips feature. Really pleased to share that Chipper Cash is the first and only service so far specifically geared to serve African users. Worked hard for this one…,” wrote Wiza Jalakasi, Vice President, Global Developer Realtions at Chipper Cash.

Users have been asking for tips or Patreon followers on Twitter for years and as a result, it’s understandable that Twitter would want to streamline the feature as part of its own program.

To be clear, the only way to go to Tip Jar right now is to go to a user’s profile. That means that paying someone money for a truly amazing tweet will involve a little more effort than simply like or retweeting it, food for thought.

Recently, Twitter acquired Revue, a service that makes it free and easy for anyone to start and publish editorial newsletters. Revue is a newsletter platform that helps people stay informed about their interests while giving all types of writers a way to monetize their audience – whether it’s through the one they built at a publication, their website, on Twitter, or elsewhere.

This is just among a raft of changes Twitter has made recently in a bid to make the platform better to its users.