Five At Five: PepsiCo’s Latest Buy Goes Beyond Stores

Welcome to Five at Five, your late look at the day’s payments and commerce news. Today’s coverage includes news of PepsiCo’s major new acquisition, and Walmart’s latest plans for virtual reality (VR) retail. Alibaba might have a new plan to take on Amazon in India, a bitcoin trader is accused of money laundering and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has a made a fresh B2B payments move.

PepsiCo Snaps Up SodaStream

The acquisition of SodaStream gives Pepsi access to consumers’ buying behaviors that extend beyond stores.

Walmart Reveals Virtual Reality Retail Plans Via New Patent Filings

One of the Walmart patent filings describes a VR headset, “paired with sensor-laden gloves that would allow consumers to interact with a Walmart store in a virtual world.”

Alibaba Takes On Amazon, Flipkart In India

News of Alibaba’s potential partnership with Reliance Retail isn’t unexpected, according to market watchers, as the fast-growing digital commerce market in India has attracted attention from global players.

Young Bitcoin Trader Indicted On Money Laundering Charges

The charges allege that the trader sold roughly $750,000 in bitcoin to about 900 individuals throughout the United States over a period that stretched from January 2015 to April 2016.

SAP Concur Tapped By Department Of Defense

The DoD said its work with SAP Concur could lower the cost of airplane tickets and reduce manual labor time to book travel and process expenses.