According to sources cited by Reuters, TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, has submitted applications for two financial licences with Brazil’s central bank.

As of the latest update, these applications have not been publicly confirmed. Neither TikTok nor the central bank provided further details when contacted for comment.

The first licence would enable TikTok to function as an electronic money issuer, allowing users to hold balances, receive funds, and conduct transactions within the app. The second licence could classify it as a direct credit company, offering fintech services without public deposits but with capabilities in lending or facilitating peer-to-peer financial connections.

Context and Regulatory Background

Should these licences be approved, TikTok would be able to provide a range of basic financial services to Brazilian consumers, aligning with the platform-embedded financial service approach seen in Brazil through Nubank, currently the nation’s largest digital bank. It remains unclear whether TikTok intends to introduce its own standalone financial products or merely enhance existing functionalities for e-commerce and creator monetization.

Previously, ByteDance launched Douyin Pay in China in 2021 to support e-commerce on the Chinese version of TikTok, competing with Alipay and WeChat Pay. In Indonesia, efforts to obtain a payments licence in 2023 were unsuccessful due to restrictions preventing direct transaction processing on the platform, prompting it to seek local partnerships instead.

Brazil is a key market for TikTok, boasting over 131 million users aged 18 and above as of late 2025. It also has an extensive reach among 80% of Brazilian adults through its advertising network. ByteDance has further invested more than USD 38,800 in a data center within the country. A meeting between executives from ByteDance, including those managing global payments, and Brazil’s central bank chief took place on the day the licence applications were reported.