TikTok appears to be building the ability for users to send money to one another inside direct messages, folding payments into chats rather than keeping them tied to the storefront.
Bloomberg reports developers found fragments of code in the current U.S. iPhone app that reference TikTok Pay and indicate recipients could "tap to accept" payments while senders could attach a message, in a flow similar to Venmo. TikTok told Bloomberg the feature is not being tested, which the report notes suggests it is in early development.
TikTok Pay is already used in Southeast Asia for purchases through TikTok Shop; the company has been moving beyond a simple social feed with features such as search, TikTok Shop, a local discovery map, games and hotel bookings. Reuters reported earlier this year that TikTok applied to Brazil’s central bank to operate as a financial technology company offering lending and payment services.
The move would put TikTok in direct competition with consumer peer-to-peer services such as Venmo and Zelle, and with other social platforms moving into payments, X has recently launched X Money to let users send each other funds.
TikTok did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. If the feature proceeds from code to product, it would mark a further step in the company’s long-running push to turn its social surface into a broader commercial platform.
