American Express launches Twitter pay-by-tweet scheme
Amex plan turns Twitter into a retailer and makes each purchase an advertisement

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
COULD Twitter have finally found a concrete reason to exist? For years the social media site has been derided by its critics as a corner of the web devoted to the banal thoughts of the self-important, patrolled by trolls and spammers.
Now American Express is trying to turn Twitter into an online retailer, by allowing cardholders to buy goods using a hashtag contained in a tweet.
The scheme expands the Amex Card Synch programme, launched last year, which lets members connect their cards to social media accounts. Previously cardholders were awarded discounts and offers in return for sending tweets with certain hashtags. Now hashtags can trigger a physical purchase.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Once the cardholder sends a tweet with the correct hashtag they receive a confirmation from Amex and if they respond within 15 minutes the product is shipped and a payment taken from the user's American Express card.
The pay-by-tweet feature was launched in the US yesterday with members able to buy a $25 American Express gift card for just $15 by sending a tweet containing the hashtag #BuyAmexGiftCard25.
Other products will go on sale later this week. The first items on offer will be an Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, a Sony camera, Xbox 360 games consoles and Donna Karan bracelets. The various product hashtags will be listed on the Amex Twitter page.
"The arrangement hints at a potential new source of revenue for Twitter, which has largely been reliant on advertising for revenue," says the Wall Street Journal, which suggests that Twitter could take a cut of sales. "The American Express partnership also is a way for Twitter to prove the link between marketing activity on Twitter and a ringing cash register," the paper adds.
The sales process will also act as a form of marketing, said CNN. "Since protected accounts aren't allowed, there's no way to take advantage of a discount without it being public information. That means each purchase is not only money for the various companies involved, but also an automatic promotion for the product and its brands.
"By wrapping the entire purchasing process in a hashtag, the service makes buying fast and easy. If it takes off, we could see hashtags for products in commercials and print ads."
Dan Mortimer, the CEO of tech company Red Ant, told The Drum that the decision was based on the "assumption that consumers want to make all of their purchases public and traceable".
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
What to know when filing a hurricane insurance claim
The Explainer A step-by-step to figure out what insurance will cover and what else you can do beyond filing a claim
By Becca Stanek Published
-
How fees impact your investment portfolio — and how to save on them
The Explainer Even seemingly small fees can take a big bite out of returns
By Becca Stanek Published
-
Enemy without
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will Musk's rebranding ruin Twitter?
Talking Point Is Musk dooming his own company by scrapping its valuable brand, or is it all leading to something bigger?
By Harold Maass Published
-
Twitter to X and five other controversial rebrands from history
Under the Radar Elon Musk’s decision joins a long list of derided company changes
By Rebekah Evans Published
-
Elon Musk announces change to Twitter logo
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Threads: will privacy fears scupper Meta’s Twitter ‘killer’?
Under the Radar Mark Zuckerberg’s new Threads app has launched but data protection rules mean it isn’t yet available in the EU
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet Published
-
Twitter has reportedly threatened to sue Meta over Threads
Speed Read
By Brigid Kennedy Published
-
Will Threads kill Twitter?
Today's Big Question Meta just launched its own microblogging app directly positioned to take down the blue bird
By Brigid Kennedy Published
-
Tweet of clay: will Twitter’s demise bring down Elon Musk?
Talking Point Controversial rate limits come as Meta prepares to launch its rival to the social media platform
By Sorcha Bradley Published
-
How greater online regulation is prompting fears of a ‘splinternet’
feature Government pressure worldwide means the internet is not as open as it once was
By Sorcha Bradley Published