Indian creators need to smarten up as UK counterparts get TikTok Creator Card

TikTok Creator Card: In a bid to aid the bootstrapped creator and contribute to the growing creator economy, Visa has tied up with TikTok to launch a debit card for content creators in the UK. 

TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms in the UK, with approximately 24.8 million users and 1.5 million TikTok creators. The TikTok Creator Card is an indication for creators to up their financial game and make smart choices.

How does the TikTok Creator Cards work?

The debit card by TikTok, in partnership with Vis, is called the TikTok Creator Card. As creators receive virtual gifts during TikTok LIVE, they end up using their personal bank accounts to convert these gifts into earnings. To keep personal and business separate, the TikTok Creator Card will definitely come in handy. 

According to Lucy Demery, SVP, Head of Visa Commercial Solutions, Europe, creators will be able to access their earnings through TikTok LIVE, brand partnerships, and platform payouts faster. This will help them plan their spending and business investments better. 

In research that the company conducted into the cash flow challenges that creators face, Visa found that 49% of the creators experienced late payments. The research also pointed out that 86% of creator-led businesses are self-funded, which made irregular income flows a major business hurdle. 

The TikTok Creator Cards, which comes with a linked business account, is designed to reduce delays associated with traditional payout processes. This initiative supports Visa’s efforts of enabling social media entrepreneurs and creators to achieve the projected worldwide growth of $500 billion by 2027. 

Are Indian creators listening?

While TikTok is banned in India, there are other popular platforms that are driving economic growth for creators. However, these platforms are yet to come up with native financial infrastructure, such as the TikTok Creator Cards, for Indian creators.

The problem of irregular cash flow and delayed payouts is not exclusive to the UK industry. In India, too, creators have to work around unorganised channels of payment. There is definitely a gap that needs to be addressed.

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In India, we have homegrown fintech companies and start-ups that are doing exceedingly well in other areas of finance. They are building India-centric solutions such as offline payment apps that help users in rural and low-bandwidth environments. Similarly, there is India’s first payment reliability ledger for creative businesses – Paydscore –  that addresses the problem of late payments by offering a verified payment experience ledger, escrow-backed dispute resolution, and a ‘CIBIL-like’ score for brands. 

This is clearly an opportunity for fintech players to work with influencer platforms and create financial tools that can serve the community and help the creator economy grow. The Visa–TikTok visa card could become a blueprint for India’s creator-fintech convergence.

Author

Krati Darak

Krati Darak is the Senior Editor at The Creator Index, where she leads everything editorial, from coverage decisions and story direction to the voice of India's first dedicated creator economy publication. She's spent over five years in digital media and has done a bit of everything — at Thomson Reuters, she covered legal news, deals, appointments, and rankings. At LBB, she pretty much led Mumbai coverage, digging up the city's hidden gems (if you've found one through them, there's a good chance she wrote about it). She's also worked as a commerce editor at StyleCraze and has written for D2C beauty brands like Foxtale, WOW Skin Science, SkinQ, and more.