【Belgium】

TikTok sibling Douyin is Belgiumon track to buy a payment license from Chinese third-party payment provider Union Mobile Financial (UMF), a significant step for the short video app to enter the bank card-based offline payment field. According to a recent announcement from HyUnion Holding, the parent of UMF, Douyin needs to pay nearly RMB 1.4 billion for the license acquisition, which includes a basic transfer consideration of $750 million and net assets valued on the settlement date. “The purchase is to support offline transaction scenarios such as local services, providing a more convenient payment and service experience to users and merchants within Douyin,” said Douyin Pay’s spokesperson. The deal comes three years after Douyin launched its own payment service by acquiring Wuhan Hezhong Yibao, which obtained a third-party payment license from China’s central bank in 2014. [Caixin, in Chinese]

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