<p class="bodytext">Beijing-based ByteDance launched on Tuesday its third-party payment service for the Chinese version of its hit short video app TikTok, "Douyin Pay", as it presses to expand into the e-commerce business in China.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The set-up of Douyin Pay is to supplement the existing major payment options, and to ultimately enhance user experience on Douyin," Douyin said in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Users of Douyin, which accumulated 600 million daily active users, previously could use Ant Group's Alipay and Tencent Holdings' WeChat Pay, the country's two ubiquitous third-party mobile payment channels, to buy virtual gifts for live streamers or items from shops on the platform.</p>.<p class="bodytext">ByteDance founder and CEO Zhang Yiming built up the company's payment capability in China by acquiring Wuhan Hezhong Yibao Technology Co last year. Hezhong Yibao obtained a third-party payment license from the central bank in 2014.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The company, which denies the allegation, has been in talks for months with Walmart Inc and Oracle Corp to shift such assets into a new entity.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Douyin is the main revenue generator for ByteDance. It provides a glimpse of what TikTok could eventually become, as Douyin started selling merchandise in 2017 and now operates a growing e-commerce operation where hundreds of millions of users shop on a daily basis.</p>.<p class="bodytext">ByteDance's expansion comes as China's financial regulators are tightening oversight over financial technology firms, particularly companies such as Ant Group.</p>.<p class="bodytext">China's third-party payment sector is dominated by Alipay and WeChat Pay, with the former taking 55.39% of the total market in the second quarter of last year, according to market researcher Analysys. Other players include JD.com's JD Pay, Baidu Wallet and Meituan Pay.</p>
<p class="bodytext">Beijing-based ByteDance launched on Tuesday its third-party payment service for the Chinese version of its hit short video app TikTok, "Douyin Pay", as it presses to expand into the e-commerce business in China.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The set-up of Douyin Pay is to supplement the existing major payment options, and to ultimately enhance user experience on Douyin," Douyin said in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Users of Douyin, which accumulated 600 million daily active users, previously could use Ant Group's Alipay and Tencent Holdings' WeChat Pay, the country's two ubiquitous third-party mobile payment channels, to buy virtual gifts for live streamers or items from shops on the platform.</p>.<p class="bodytext">ByteDance founder and CEO Zhang Yiming built up the company's payment capability in China by acquiring Wuhan Hezhong Yibao Technology Co last year. Hezhong Yibao obtained a third-party payment license from the central bank in 2014.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The company, which denies the allegation, has been in talks for months with Walmart Inc and Oracle Corp to shift such assets into a new entity.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Douyin is the main revenue generator for ByteDance. It provides a glimpse of what TikTok could eventually become, as Douyin started selling merchandise in 2017 and now operates a growing e-commerce operation where hundreds of millions of users shop on a daily basis.</p>.<p class="bodytext">ByteDance's expansion comes as China's financial regulators are tightening oversight over financial technology firms, particularly companies such as Ant Group.</p>.<p class="bodytext">China's third-party payment sector is dominated by Alipay and WeChat Pay, with the former taking 55.39% of the total market in the second quarter of last year, according to market researcher Analysys. Other players include JD.com's JD Pay, Baidu Wallet and Meituan Pay.</p>