Five At Five: Alibaba Makes A Move In South Asia

Welcome to Five at Five, your late look at some of the freshest payments news of the day. Today’s stories focus on Alibaba’s move into South Asia and highlight what to expect from Etsy as it refocuses on its core eCommerce business. Discover has decided to offer fee forgiveness to certain customers, Instagram has new tools for business and Elon Musk has a sweet tooth. Take a look:

Alibaba Buys Daraz
Chinese eCommerce giant Alibaba has acquired Daraz, Pakistan’s most popular online shopping destination, thus expanding its empire into South Asia. Daraz will reportedly continue operating under the same brand following the acquisition.

Etsy Gears Up For Q1 Earnings Amid Shift To Core eCommerce Offerings
After the company posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings amid its turnaround and hit a milestone in gross merchandising sales, analysts are anticipating slightly lower earnings for Etsy’s first quarter as the online marketplace seeks to refocus on its core eCommerce offerings.

Discover Forgives Fees — Well, Some — For Checking, Savings And Money Market Customers
Discover is in a forgiving mood. The payments company launched a fee forgiveness program that applies to Discover’s cashback checking, savings and money market accounts.

Instagram Bows New Business Tools Focused On Messaging, Booking, Payments
In an effort to boost its presence in the business realm, Instagram unveiled new features on the social networking platform that will help users contact companies and enlist them for goods and services. The tools that bowed on Tuesday also enhance companies’ visibility on Instagram.

Elon Musk Plans Candy Venture
Elon Musk just might become the next Willy Wonka with his latest venture. It’s not exactly as ambitious as the hyperloop, but it does follow in the footsteps of other creative product ideas.