TikTok is developing a peer-to-peer payments feature that would allow users to send money through direct messages, according to code hidden in the current U.S. version of its iPhone app. The feature is still in early development, and a TikTok spokesperson confirmed it is “not being tested in any market.”
The payments would be processed through TikTok Pay, which already operates in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia for TikTok Shop purchases and in-app transactions. Code references suggest users could receive a payment in a conversation and “tap to accept” it before an expiration date. Senders may get push notifications or inbox updates, and could attach a note to payments, similar to Venmo.
Following the Bloomberg report, shares of PayPal and Western Union fell sharply, reflecting investor concern about potential competition. TikTok has close to 2 billion monthly active users globally, giving it a large base if it launches U.S. financial services.
Parent company ByteDance has been expanding into fintech since at least 2021, when it launched Douyin Pay in China. ByteDance is valued at over $550 billion and reportedly booked about $186 billion in revenue in 2025, up from $155 billion in 2024. It is hiring for fintech roles in the U.S. and abroad.
TikTok is not alone: Elon Musk’s X has launched X Money for peer-to-peer transfers and is exploring stock and cryptocurrency trading. However, any U.S. TikTok payment rollout would face payments compliance, fraud prevention, identity verification, consumer protection, and money-transmission requirements, especially given ByteDance’s ties to China.
The discovery signals an early product direction rather than an imminent launch, but it shows TikTok is exploring how far its direct-message system can expand beyond communication into payments and commerce.
