TikTok may be considering a feature that lets users send money to friends directly inside private messages. According to TechCrunch, citing a Bloomberg report published on Aug. 18, traces of a peer-to-peer payment function were found in the current code of TikTok’s U.S. iPhone app, pointing to continued interest in financial services.
Code suggests transfers inside direct messages
The code appears to outline a transfer flow tied to direct messaging. A recipient would need to accept the money before it expires. The sender, meanwhile, would receive transaction status updates through push notifications or the inbox.
The code also mentions the ability to attach a message to a transfer, a design described as similar to Venmo, which is owned by PayPal.
TikTok Pay could handle the transactions
Bloomberg’s reporting, as cited by TechCrunch, said the transactions would be processed by TikTok Pay, the payment service TikTok already operates in Southeast Asia. That suggests the company already has part of the payments infrastructure needed to connect transfers with its messaging environment.
TikTok says the feature is not being tested
The feature still appears to be at an early stage. A TikTok spokesperson said the company is not currently testing the P2P transfer function in any market and does not guarantee that it will be launched. The code only indicates that its global parent company, ByteDance, is evaluating the idea.
The code does not mention cryptocurrency or stablecoins. Based on the details disclosed so far, the feature falls under traditional fiat P2P payments.
If TikTok eventually turns chat-based payments into a live product, it would introduce a new variable into the payments market for a platform that already has a large user base.