As X continues to evolve its X Money payment process, TikTok may also be looking to integrate in-stream payments as part of its own expanded shopping push.
According to Bloomberg, TikTok is exploring the potential of expanding its TikTok Pay feature to users in the U.S., whch would enable American users to send money to other profiles in the app via DM.
TikTok Pay, which is already active in Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, allows users to pay for products directly in the app. Expanding on this, TikTok also offers TikTok PayLater in some markets, which lets users split their purchases into a series of payments.
The capacity to facilitate direct payments in-stream could significantly impact the rate of purchases in-app, with the immediate response option likely to drive more impulse purchases, particularly during livestreams.
That’s been one of the key drivers of sales activity in the China-based version of TikTok, called Douyin. As per Walk the Chat, Douyin now highlights its Douyin Pay as a key in-stream transaction option.
According to a report in ScienceDirect, livestreams on Douyin accounted for more than 40% of its total e-commerce sales in 2024, which underlines the value of facilitating direct purchases and connected payment methods in-stream.
Maybe TikTok thinks that TikTok Pay could give its U.S. commerce ambitions a boost.
The platform has seen a significant rise in in-app shopping activity, with a recent report from Momentum Works estimating that TikTok generated around $50 billion in GMV in the first half of 2026, up 92% year over year. The U.S. market accounted for $11.8 billion of those sales, according to the report, representing a more than 100% year-over-year increase.
Given this, it makes sense that TikTok would want to facilitate streamlined payments, and with a structure already in place to do so operating in some markets, a U.S. expansion makes sense.
Presumably, TikTok’s U.S. operation would also need to obtain money transmitter licenses in U.S. states before this goes ahead.
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