TikTok owner ByteDance has launched a new payment tool as it expands its e-commerce business and takes on the two market leaders in China’s mobile payment sector.

The payment service is being offered to the 600 million monthly users of Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

The details

  • Douyin Pay can be used to make purchases within the short-video app, which already offers payment through the e-wallet market leaders, Alibaba’s AliPay, and TenCent’s WeChat Pay.

  • Between them, AliPay and WeChat Pay handle over 90% of China’s online payments, according to market research firm iResearch.

  • Unlike AliPay and WeChat Pay, which can be used within apps but also at physical stores, Douyin Pay will only be available in-app.

The context

Douyin Pay marks a further drive by ByteDance into areas beyond social in China, such as fintech and e-commerce. And the move comes at a time when e-commerce, and livestreaming e-commerce in particular, is booming in China, and regulators are looking to introduce stricter supervision of financial services offered online.

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Sourced from Nikkei Asian Review, CNBC