PayPal targets vertical software users with Rainforest deal

PayPal recently partnered with Rainforest, an embedded payment provider for software platforms, to launch a new embedded payment integration to help software platforms shift more processing volume away from offline payment methods, such as cash and checks, which are rife with fraud.

The integration means Rainforest platform clients can enable their merchants to get paid via PayPal, Venmo and PayPal Pay Later, as well as cards, Apple Pay and pay by bank through a single checkout experience, the two companies said in a press release.

According to the partners, the benefit to end customers include easier ways to pay, and merchants get paid faster, experience fewer late payments and spend less time chasing down unpaid invoices. With more payments flowing through a single streamlined system, merchants also save time on reconciliation while software platforms are able to keep more payments volumes.

No more duplicative development

“Vertical software is a strategic growth area for PayPal as more commerce moves directly into software,” said Taira Hall, senior vice president at PayPal. “Rainforest’s deep focus on vertical software and strong execution make them the ideal partner to equip software platforms with trusted PayPal payment options in a way that’s streamlined, scalable and purpose built for their needs.”

Software companies have historically relied on separate integrations to support different payment types, resulting in duplicative development work, separate reporting and data pipelines, disparate merchant onboarding flows, and multiple deposits to merchant bank accounts each day.

The Rainforest-PayPal collaboration changes that. PayPal is embedded directly into Rainforest’s product, so software companies can immediately unlock PayPal, Venmo and PayPal Pay Later without duplicative development work.

“Rainforest’s customers have been increasingly eager for a PayPal integration as they look to shift more of their transaction volume away from cash and checks and toward modern digital payments,” said Joshua Silver, founder and CEO of Rainforest. “We built Rainforest to be the best embedded payment provider for vertical software, and that means delivering a first-class payments experience – unified, seamless and fully embedded – for both merchants and their customers”

Silver further stated that partnering with PayPal "allows us to do exactly that, giving platforms instant access to PayPal without extra onboarding steps, external portals, or fragmented reporting. Together, we’re helping our platform clients deliver a modern, end-to-end payments experience.”

PayPal a takeover candidate?

The announcement from PayPal and Rainforest came on the heels of reports that PayPal may be on the block. The fintech Stripe reportedly is in early stages of discussions to purchase PayPal or parts of the digital payments company, Bloomberg News reported on Feb. 24, 2026.

PayPal has faced slowing growth over the past year. The company’s stock price has plummeted more than 19 percent since the start of this year, and it shed nearly a third of its value in 2025. On Feb. 3, the company responded by ousting its CEO, Alex Chriss, and appointing board chair Enrique Lores as president and CEO.

Stripe, meanwhile, has been on a tear. The privately held company processed $1.9 trillion in transactions last year and reached a $159 billion valuation, up from $91.5 billion a year earlier. John Collison, Stripe’s co-founder and president, told CNBC on Feb. 25 that the company has no plans as yet for an IPO.

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