ByteDance Subsidiary Tiktok in Talks to Acquire Payments License from Indonesian Authorities

By: Asia Business Outlook Team | Friday, 04 August 2023

TikTok said it is in early-stage talks with regulators in Indonesia to obtain a payments licence, which would advance its e-commerce ambitions in a major market at a time when it is under increased scrutiny in the US and elsewhere.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew announced in June that the short video platform would invest billions of dollars in Indonesia and the rest of Southeast Asia.

According to two sources briefed on the plan, TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, is in talks with Indonesia's central bank and that the application is being viewed positively. A TikTok spokesperson confirmed the talks on Friday (Aug 4) and added that an Indonesian payments licence would benefit local creators and sellers on its platform.

Because the negotiations were private, the sources declined to be identified. A representative from Bank Indonesia did not respond to a request for comment. A payments licence would allow TikTok to profit from transaction fees, putting it in direct competition with Southeast Asian e-commerce behemoths like Sea's Shopee and Alibaba's Lazada.

TikTok has 125 million Indonesian users per month - on par with its user figures for Europe and not too far behind the US, where it has 150 million.