By Marcela Ayres
BRASILIA, March 31 (Reuters) – Social media platform TikTok, controlled by China’s ByteDance, is seeking approval from the Brazilian central bank to operate as a lending and payments fintech, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The sources, who requested anonymity because the plans are confidential, said TikTok has applied for two licenses with the regulator. One would allow it to operate as an “electronic money issuer,” offering prepaid accounts for users to hold balances, receive funds and make payments within its app.
The second license would make it a “direct credit company,” a kind of fintech that cannot take public deposits but can lend its own capital or act as a platform connecting borrowers and lenders.
If approved, the move would allow TikTok to offer a suite of basic financial services to Brazilians, running a playbook popularized by Nubank, now the country’s largest digital bank.
TikTok did not respond to requests for comment. It was not clear if the company aims to offer a new range of services or simply support e-commerce and monetization on its platform.
Brazil’s central bank also declined to comment.
ByteDance executives, including Global Payments head Liao Baohua, met central bank chief Gabriel Galipolo in Brasilia earlier on Tuesday, according to his public calendar.
ByteDance launched Douyin Pay in China in 2021 to support e-commerce on the Chinese version of TikTok, competing with established payment tools such as Alipay and WeChat Pay.
TikTok also sought a payments license in Indonesia in 2023, but was barred from processing transactions directly on its platform late that year, leading it to seek local partnerships.
The Brazil push marks another step in TikTok’s regional expansion plans after it said late last year it would invest more than 200 billion reais ($38.4 billion) in a data center in the country, a market known for high social media penetration.
TikTok had 131 million users aged 18 and above in Brazil in late 2025, with ads reaching 80% of all adults in the country, according to research firm DataReportal.
($1 = 5.21 reais)
(Reporting by Marcela AyresEditing by Brad Haynes and Nick Zieminski)
