TikTok eyes money transfers straight from DMs

Meanwhile, the feasible feature, noted by Bloomberg, appears to be connected to TikTok Pay, the company's existing payment system.

Key points

• TikTok Pay at present operates in parts of Southeast Asia, including Malaysia and Vietnam, where it supports transactions through TikTok Shop.
• 🚨 LATEST: TikTok is exploring a feature letting users send funds to each other via DMs, using its TikTok Pay system to push deeper into financial services.
• ByteDance retains a 19.9% stake in the TikTok U.S.
• The feature could additionally allow users to add captions to payments, similar to the way residents add messages when sending funds through apps such as Venmo.
• The possibility of TikTok entering the U.S.

Users could receive updates regarding the progress of their payments. Individuals receiving capital may additionally need to accept the payment by pressing a button before a set deadline expires.

🚨 LATEST: TikTok is exploring a feature letting users send funds to each other via DMs, using its TikTok Pay system to push deeper into financial services. Pic.twitter.com/FSaCsXoGov.

Notably, the feature could additionally allow users to add captions to payments, similar to the way residents add messages when sending funds through apps such as Venmo.

Notably, the possibility of TikTok entering the U.S. Peer-to-peer payment market has already caught investors' attention. Shares of firms including PayPal and Western Union fell after reports regarding the potential expansion.

TikTok Pay at present operates in parts of Southeast Asia, including Malaysia and Vietnam, where it supports transactions through TikTok Shop. In the United States, TikTok Shop at present relies on outside payment options, including PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna, Affirm and credit cards.

Nevertheless, TikTok has not confirmed that the feature is being tested. The idea is additionally not completely new within TikTok's corporate family. Douyin, TikTok's Chinese counterpart operated by ByteDance, already supports peer-to-peer payments through Douyin Pay.

ByteDance retains a 19.9% stake in the TikTok U.S. Venture after transferring most of its ownership to TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC earlier this year. Social media firms have been exploring payments for years.

For now, tikTok eyes money transfers straight from DMs remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.