At Rainforest, we answer hundreds of payments questions everyday. What's an ideal take rate for a healthcare platform with $200M in annual volume? Is 75% a good attach rate? What's a realistic goal for adoption?

The reality is that most vertical SaaS platforms have no idea how their embedded payments performance compares to the industry. 

That’s exactly why we built the 2026 Vertical SaaS Embedded Payments Benchmarking Study, so platforms can stop guessing and start benchmarking. 

In this episode, Joshua Silver, Founder and CEO of Rainforest sits down with Brooke Smith, who led the study, to discuss the key findings on adoption, leadership, take rate optimization, and what the highest-performing platforms are doing differently.

They discussed:

📊 The adoption gap: 78% of platforms are targeting an adoption rate of 71% or more but only 25% of platforms are currently performing at that level

👔 Why C-suite payments leaders drive significantly better performance across all metrics

💡 How real-time performance dashboards unlock better decision-making and strategy

💰 The surprising impact of dedicated payments leadership on take rate optimization

🚀 What mature high-performers achieve: 78% median adoption and 35% of total revenue from payments

The Payments Strategy Show is brought to you by Vertex and Rainforest.

Vertex: The Vertical Software Conference

This invite-only event and community offers networking, learning, and unique insights on go-to-market, monetization, product expansion, fundraising, and M&A.

Learn more: https://www.vertexconference.com/

Get updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vertex-vertical-software-conference

Rainforest is the embedded payments purpose-built for vertical SaaS.

Grow revenue with the only payfac-as-a-service provider optimized to help you drive more payments volume at higher margins, without risk or compliance headaches.

Learn more: https://rainforestpay.com

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/rainforestpay