PayPal is making two significant moves to expand its presence in both routine monthly expenses and future AI-driven commerce.
Venmo Partners with Bilt Rewards for Rent & Mortgages
Starting in early 2026, PayPal will enable users to pay rent and mortgages directly through Venmo via a partnership with Bilt Rewards. This integration adds Venmo to Bilt’s existing payment options, which are already linked to over 40,000 merchants and 70% of the top 100 U.S. property managers.
This deal aims to lock Venmo into the steady, large monthly transactions of the housing market, making it as easy for tenants and homeowners to pay their landlords as it is to split utility bills with roommates. PayPal’s GM of Consumer, Diego Scotti, noted that this move makes the existing practice of splitting rent on Venmo more “seamless and rewarding.” Bilt CEO Ankur Jain emphasized the merger of Venmo’s massive user base with Bilt’s rewards network.
PayPal and Mastercard Advance AI-Powered Payments
In a separate development, PayPal is strengthening its collaboration with Mastercard to introduce AI-powered transactions using Mastercard’s “secure payment” network.
This partnership centers on Agent Pay, a platform that allows consumers to make purchases guided by AI assistants. PayPal will integrate Mastercard’s secure rails directly into its branded checkout wallet. The entire system relies on tokenization and passkey authentication to ensure AI agents can safely authorize transactions.
PayPal will pilot Mastercard’s Agent Pay Acceptance Framework, which verifies and secures these AI-initiated payments. Mastercard stated that this system is designed to “reduce friction and expand consumer choice as AI-driven commerce becomes mainstream.”
October 2025, Cryptoniteuae
