PayPal and Rainforest Team to Move Businesses Away From Checks

The collaboration will see the companies launch an embedded payment integration to help software platforms move more processing volume away from offline methods of payments such as cash and checks, Rainforest announced Wednesday (Feb. 25).

Checks are still written by 61% of Americans, the company noted in a news release provided to PYMNTS, and are the method most often used in payment fraud.

“With the new integration, Rainforest platform clients can enable their merchants  to get paid via PayPal, Venmo, and PayPal Pay Later alongside cards, Apple Pay, and pay by bank through a single checkout experience,” the release said.

“This gives end customers an easy way to pay so merchants get paid fast, experience fewer late payments, and spend less time chasing down unpaid invoices.”

And with more payments moving through a single system, merchants can spend less time on reconciliation and software platforms keep more payment volume on the platform.

“Vertical software is a strategic growth area for PayPal as more commerce moves directly into software,” said Taira Hall, senior vice president and head of SMB commercial 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, the release added, have traditionally depended on separate integrations to support different payment methods, which meant duplicating development work, separate reporting and data systems and multiple deposits to merchant bank accounts each day.

Rainforest and PayPal say they’ve changed that by integrating PayPal into Rainforest’s product, letting software companies automatically access PayPal, Venmo, and PayPal Pay Later without added integrations, merchant onboarding flows or complexity.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote Wednesday that while cash and checks are still a prevalent payment method for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), there is some desire for change among these companies.

“Ready for Change: Why Nearly Half of SMBs Want to Ditch Cash and Checks,” a collaboration between PYMNTS Intelligence and Mastercard, found the attachments SMBs have to legacy payment methods are often more about workflow realities rather than a refusal to embrace digital tools.

“In other words, there is real room for progress because the barriers are solvable,” PYMNTS wrote. “When payment providers design around how SMBs actually operate — approvals, invoicing rhythms, liquidity needs, and risk concerns — adoption can accelerate in a way that feels like an upgrade, not a disruption.”