News

Instagram Has Started Rolling Out Comments For Stories

Mutuals will soon be able to publicly engage with Stories.

Published

2 years ago

September 4, 2024

Nour Nasir

Instagram

Instagram has begun rolling out comments for Stories, which until now, could only be replied to using direct messages. The upgrade offers a more visible method for users to interact with posts, with a representative from Meta adding that “comments live only on your Story”.

It will be possible to turn off Story comments for individual posts. However, when enabled, they will be seen by anyone following the account, but only mutuals have the ability to leave comments. As with the Story post format, comments will also disappear after 24 hours. Small profile pictures of commenters will appear at the bottom of a Story icon, so you’ll know if comments have been added before tapping to view a post.

Users can still opt to respond to a Story via DM if the account posting them has been set up to accept those messages. There will also be an option to send a DM in response to a Story comment, which can be found by swiping left on the text and tapping the DM icon.

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Instagram has also been adding more ways for users to jazz up their Stories, including customizable templates, AI-generated backgrounds and interactive stickers.

News

NEOPAY Wants To Follow Merchants Across Channels And Borders

A controlling 65% stake in noon payments would give NEOPAY access to marketplace sellers, online merchants and the payment flows they generate.

Published

1 day ago

October 5, 2026

Nour Nasir

neopay wants to follow merchants across channels and borders

It’s been a long time since checkouts were single defined places. A merchant might take payments at a physical register, on its own website and through an online marketplace, sometimes in more than one country. NEOPAY wants to follow those transactions wherever they happen.

The UAE payments company has entered into an agreement to acquire a 65% controlling stake in noon payments. NEOPAY already runs the acquiring infrastructure that lets merchants accept card payments, along with omnichannel acceptance and a merchant services platform. This new deal would add noon payments’ embedded payments platform, e-commerce gateway and merchant network across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. That would considerably expand both NEOPAY’s digital commerce capabilities and its regional reach.

For merchants, the attraction is a single provider for online and in-store payments, plus faster settlements, data and analytics, and value-added financial services.

“Payments should be simple, reliable, and built for the markets they serve,” said Faraz Khalid, CEO of noon. His counterpart at NEOPAY, Vibhor Mundhada, added: “We have built a strong payments business in the UAE, and our ambition is now to take that capability across the region”. The acquisition, Mundhada added, would “expand our footprint into Saudi Arabia and Egypt” while reinforcing NEOPAY’s position at home.

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NEOPAY is also keen to point out potential payment volume increases. The company says noon payments’ integrations with marketplace sellers and online merchants create high transaction density in some of the region’s fastest-growing digital commerce segments. It also believes control of the business would give it access to those merchant relationships and payment flows, and speed up the rollout of alternative payment methods and installment options.

The combined roadmap targets faster merchant onboarding, better payment performance, tighter fraud controls and embedded financial services. The deal could also strengthen cross-border payments and settlement along key regional commerce corridors.