Top News In Payments: Tougher Criteria For 2020 Business Loans; Wordline To Buy Ingenico

In today’s top news, U.S. banks are expected to tighten standards for 2020 business loans, Wordline is buying rival payments firm Ingenico, and Alphabet released fourth quarter earnings on Monday.

Tougher Criteria For 2020 Business Loans As Performance Wanes

U.S. banks are expected to tighten criteria for business loans this year due to an increased expectation of default as risk tolerance drops along with the value of assurances.

Worldline To Purchase Rival Ingenico In $8.6B Deal

Worldline is buying rival payments firm Ingenico to create the fourth-largest company in the payments space. The deal, worth $8.6 billion, is expected to be finalized by the third quarter of 2020.

Alphabet’s YouTube Subs At $3B Run Rate, Eyes ‘Better’ Commerce Experience

Google’s parent, Alphabet, reported fourth-quarter results with gains in search and YouTube businesses, while cloud outpaced the growth rate of those operations. But the company garnered a net revenue of $46 billion, which missed estimates by roughly $790 million.

Grab Launches GrabInvest

Grab acquired Singapore’s robo-advisory Bento, which it plans to rebrand as GrabInvest and use to offer retail wealth management to users, drivers and merchant partners.

NEW REPORT: Merchants Up Their Digital Checkout Game In The Age Of Amazon

How effectively do merchants’ checkout processes convert would-be buyers into paying customers? The PYMNTS Q4 2019 Checkout Conversion Index analyzes the online checkout processes of 667 leading retailers to pinpoint which checkout features can help them avoid putting potential sales at risk.

Mastercard, Pine Labs And The Global Buy Now, Pay Later Explosion

Last week, Mastercard announced a partnership with India’s Pine Labs, a firm that specializes in buy now, pay later (BNPL) offerings. Mastercard’s executive vice president of Global Merchant Solutions and Partnerships, Zahir Khoja, chatted with Karen Webster about the deal and the recent rise of BNPL worldwide.

Why The Goldman-Amazon Bet On SMB Loans Is No Sure Thing

Goldman Sachs is seeking to reinvent itself, pivoting from Wall Street to embrace Main Street. The investment bank is (maybe) partnering with Amazon to move into SMB lending — leveraging the latter’s scale and reach. Trouble is, alternative lending is a competitive field that might be facing the headwinds of a slowing economy.