TikTok is developing a feature that would let users send money to one another inside the app’s direct messages, according to a Bloomberg report.

Evidence of the feature was found in code hidden inside the current version of TikTok’s U.S. iPhone app. According to Bloomberg, the code indicates that recipients could “tap to accept” payments before an expiration date, senders could receive push notifications or inbox alerts on a transaction’s status, and users could attach a message to a payment, similar to the caption function in PayPal Holdings Inc.’s Venmo. The feature would reportedly run on TikTok Pay, the payment offering already used in Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand for TikTok Shop purchases.

A TikTok spokesperson told Bloomberg the feature is not currently in testing in any market, indicating it remains in early development, and there is no guarantee the company will launch it.

TikTok already has several payment mechanisms in place. Users can buy digital coins to send virtual gifts to creators and livestream hosts, which can later be converted to cash, and many list Venmo, Cash App, or other payment handles in their bios so followers can pay them off-platform. A native peer-to-peer transfer tool would keep that activity inside TikTok’s own ecosystem.

The exploration fits a broader pattern at ByteDance, TikTok’s Beijing-based parent, which has spent years building and investing in payments infrastructure to increase spending and engagement on the app. Bloomberg reported that both TikTok and ByteDance are hiring for financial services roles in the U.S. and abroad, and that a number of the ByteDance executives leading the payments push are former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executives; JPMorgan previously partnered with ByteDance on payments infrastructure despite past national security concerns from U.S. officials.

Consumers have spent more than $2.9 billion on TikTok so far this year, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, which has ranked TikTok the top app globally by in-app purchase revenue since 2022. In the U.S., users spend more on TikTok than on YouTube, Facebook or Instagram.

Some of TikTok’s existing payment tools are already the subject of litigation. Bloomberg reported that state attorneys general have brought lawsuits alleging the features have contributed to sexual and financial exploitation of children, and in some cases have violated money transmission laws or facilitated money laundering.

TikTok is not the only platform moving in this direction. Elon Musk has been building out financial services within X, including an “X Money” feature that is rolling out in the U.S. and allows users to send payments to one another.

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