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Forward

Provider
Embedded Payments

Embedded-finance provider tracked in the Embedded Finance Index — disclosed by 9 companies across 1 category.

getrwd.com ↗Also analysed as a company — its own stack →Open Banking Tracker profile ↗
CategoriesEmbedded Payments
Rank#6 of 15 in Embedded Payments
Buyers9 companies
HeadquartersAustin, Texas, USA
Founded2023
FoundersBrandon Lloyd, Derek Victory
Raised$16M

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Founders & story · from Forward’s own dossier

Founded 2023-2024 by Brandon Lloyd (ex-Bypass CEO, sold to Fiserv 2020) and a team of ex-SaaS/payments operators after seeing that vertical SaaS platforms were losing most of their payments upside to processors like Stripe. Forward's thesis: build a payment-facilitation platform explicitly for software companies — offering a Managed PFAC (Forward holds the license), a pathway to becoming a registered PFAC on the same tech (Rails), and layered growth/insurance services (Maximize, Protect). Positioned as the anti-lock-in alternative to Stripe Connect and legacy PFAC providers.

Latest round: Seed, 2024
Recent developments
  • 2024-05Announced $16M seed round led by Commerce Ventures, Elefund, and Fiserv source ↗
  • 2024-09Announced Cross River Bank partnership for Payouts-as-a-Service source ↗
Full dossier: Forward’s own stack, layer by layer →
Who uses Forward
9 companies disclose Forward in their stack
BirdeasePreFlighteCatholicASPIRADiamond TrackFollowThatPatientSoftware4NonprofitsServiceMindergetfwd.com
Buyer mix · 9 of 9 classified
Infrastructure / Payments · 2Fintech / SMB banking · 1unknown · 1Vertical SaaS / Events · 1Vertical SaaS / Field Service Management · 1Vertical SaaS / Healthcare · 1Vertical SaaS / Nonprofits · 1Vertical SaaS / Religious Organizations · 1
US · 5APAC · 1
What the disclosures say
Birdease
“The known_customer_listings mention Forward (getrwd.com) listing Birdease, but Forward is a rewards/loyalty platform, not a PSP.”
Software4Nonprofits
“Forward's payment flows are white-labeled within DONATION Pro and DONATION Online.' Also confirmed by known_customer_listings: Forward publicly lists Software4Nonprofits as a customer at https://www.getrwd.com”
View source · getrwd.com ↗
ServiceMinder
“ServiceMinder's own help documentation (serviceminder.knowledgeowl.com) includes a section titled 'ServiceMinder|Pay - Linking Your Bank Account to Forward', and Forward (getrwd.com) publicly lists ServiceMinder as a customer.”
getfwd.com
“Forward operates as a Managed Payment Facilitator (per Platform Terms of Service and getfwd.com pricing tiers: Protect, Maximize, Rails, PFAC).”
The complete buyer list and each company’s full embedded-finance stack are in the Embedded Finance Index report. Represent Forward? Claim this profile above to unlock your own full list.
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What Forward runs on · from its own dossier
The third-party providers Forward itself discloses, layer by layer — the vendor as a buyer. Distinct from the companies above that disclose Forward.
PSP
CardConnectCross RiverGrailPay
Tokenization
Very Good Security
BaaS
Cross Riverfiserv
KYC
SocureBaselayerTrueBizExperianMastercard MATCH
Fraud
Taktile
Open Banking
Plaid
Full dossier with evidence for each layer →
Alternatives to Forward

Other Embedded Payments providers in the index, by the number of companies that disclose them. A count of public disclosures, not a ranking of the products.

Stripe Connect133 buyers →Mangopay27 buyers →Worldpay for Platforms21 buyers →Rainforest Pay15 buyers →Adyen for Platforms9 buyers →VoPay8 buyers →Finix7 buyers →Modulr6 buyers →
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An embeddable badge for Forward’s own site — it always shows this page’s current rank, so it stays accurate as new disclosures land. States its own denominator; never claims a number this page doesn’t.

Ranked #6 of 15 in Embedded Payments — Embedded Finance Index 2026
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<a href="https://www.embeddedfinanceindex.com/vendors/forward?ref=badge">
  <img src="https://www.embeddedfinanceindex.com/api/badge/forward.svg"
       alt="Ranked #6 of 15 in Embedded Payments — Embedded Finance Index 2026">
</a>
<img src="https://www.embeddedfinanceindex.com/api/badge/forward/install" width="1" height="1" alt="" style="display:none">

Forward — frequently asked

Which companies use Forward?

9 companies disclose Forward in their stack in the Embedded Finance Index 2026, including Birdease, PreFlight, eCatholic, ASPIRA, Diamond Track, FollowThatPatient, Software4Nonprofits, ServiceMinder and getfwd.com.

What does Forward do?

Forward is an embedded-finance provider in Embedded Payments. It ranks #6 of 15 Embedded Payments providers by disclosed buyers.

What are the alternatives to Forward?

The most-disclosed Embedded Payments alternatives to Forward are Stripe Connect (133 buyers), Mangopay (27 buyers), Worldpay for Platforms (21 buyers), Rainforest Pay (15 buyers), Adyen for Platforms (9 buyers) and VoPay (8 buyers).

Who founded Forward?

Forward was founded by Brandon Lloyd and Derek Victory and is founded in 2023, headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA.

How much funding has Forward raised?

Forward has raised $16M in total.

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