Douban adds life utility payment feature, expanding into daily services

On October 9, 2026, IT Home reported that DouBan has introduced a 'life utility payment' feature, allowing users to initiate payments for water, electricity, and gas through voice or text commands within the DouBan app. The feature is part of a broader strategy to integrate life services, as confirmed by an insider close to the company. Testing revealed that issuing a payment command triggers a service card, redirecting users to a dedicated payment page. However, the page currently shows that services in Qingdao are temporarily unavailable. The report emphasized that while voice commands initiate the process, users must still complete steps like binding account numbers and confirming payments, with no direct automatic deduction.