TikTok is exploring a P2P payment feature that allows users to transfer money to each other through direct messaging. The code indicates that the recipient can click to accept the payment before it expires, and the sender can track the transaction status via push notifications or their inbox.

Bloomberg discovered clues about this feature in the current code of the U.S. version of the TikTok iPhone app, suggesting that product interactions include payment requests, receipt confirmations, status notifications, and a messaging mechanism similar to Venmo's transfer notes.

If launched, this feature is expected to use TikTok Pay for transaction processing. TikTok Pay is currently available only in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand, primarily for shopping payments within TikTok Shop.

A TikTok spokesperson stated that this P2P feature is not yet being tested in any market and is still in early development; the company has not disclosed the initial launch country, supported currencies, transfer limits, fees, fund custody, anti-money laundering procedures, or official launch timeline, nor does it guarantee a final rollout.

From a product perspective, TikTok aims to integrate content discovery, creator interaction, direct messaging, product transactions, and personal payments into a single app. The P2P feature could facilitate revenue sharing, gifting, second-hand transactions, community payments, and creator tipping, but these use cases have not been officially confirmed by TikTok.

In terms of market mechanics, users are the demand side for payments, while TikTok Pay and its network of banks, payment licenses, KYC, anti-money laundering, risk control, and fund clearing form the supply side. If direct messaging transfers are launched, TikTok could gain more frequent payment behaviors, cash flow data, and social relationship data, keeping users within the app to complete the content-to-transaction loop; Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, and local e-wallets would face competition for social distribution entry, but TikTok must first bear the costs of fraud, minor protection, sanctions screening, licensing, and cross-border fund regulation.

Source: Public Information