The Clubhouse social audio app will allow all users to pay other creators starting on Monday. It is the first monetization tool built into the application. The Clubhouse says that a reduction in payments will not be necessary, which means that the creators receive everything that someone sends them. Not everyone will be able to receive payments yet, however; this will happen in waves, “starting with a small test group,” says Clubhouse.
To pay a Clubhouse creator who can receive payments, tap their profile, tap the “Send money” button and choose how much they want to send. You will also have to pay a “small card processing fee” that goes to Stripe, which is the Clubhouse payment processing partner. The first time you try to pay someone, the Clubhouse will ask you to add a credit or debit card.
The news of direct payments comes a few weeks after Clubhouse announced its first creator accelerator program, Clubhouse Creator First, which will have 20 aspiring hosts and creators to help them build their audiences and monetize their programs.
The accelerator and new direct payments can give creators more incentives to stay at the Clubhouse instead of jumping to one of the many other social media platforms that have copied the Clubhouse social audio format. The Clubhouse is currently only available on iOS as an invitation-only app, although an Android version is in development.