Shares of PayPal slide amidst rumors of browser-based Apple Pay checkout

Shares of PayPal were down nearly 9 percent in early morning trading, but recovered some as the day went on. Investors appear to be concerned that PayPal could suffer if Apple Pay expands to support purchases on the Web.

Wednesday evening, a new report claimed that Apple has reached out to potential e-commerce partners to indicate that Apple Pay will soon support purchases on websites. It's believed that the new functionality will come to storefronts before the end of 2016.

Apple Pay for Web purchases is expected to be limited to transactions conducted through Safari on iOS devices that feature Touch ID and Apple Pay support. Currently, Apple Pay is available for contactless payments on newer iPhones, as well as in-app purchase authorizations on both recent iPhones and iPads.

When Apple Pay was announced in 2014, PayPal was a notably missing partner from the service. Earlier reports had suggested that PayPal was in talks with Apple, but a report apparently fell apart after PayPal agreed to team up with Samsung.

Apple ultimately chose to bring payments startup Stripe into the fold, seemingly filling the seat at the table left vacant by PayPal. PayPal then responded last year by buying Paydiant, a mobile wallet developer with clients including retailer-driven CurrentC.