TikTok’s Chinese version Douyin launches e-wallet to compete with Alipay, WeChat Pay

Also called Douyin Zhifu, the payment method was recently added to the short-video app, which already includes support for competitors Alipay and WeChat Pay.

The move wasn’t a surprise given how ByteDance rolled out its new ecommerce business unit in June last year. The company’s ecommerce platform was projected to reach around US$22.7 billion in gross merchandise value in 2020.

In September last year, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming – through his company Tianjin Tongrong E-commerce – acquired Wuhan Hezhong Yibao Technology, a Chinese mobile payments firm. The move gave ByteDance’s subsidiaries license to provide payment features for its users.

The current Alipay and WeChat Pay duopoly collectively takes up over 90% of the digital payment market, according to a recent report. The sector also saw other new entrants, such as food delivery platform Meituan and ecommerce giant JD.com.

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