The Fintech Index
20 reviews 5 categories 1 research report Updated Sep 23, 2026
PAY / Payments & acquiring

Adyen

One payments platform that holds its own banking licences, accepts, processes and settles online and face-to-face payments in many countries, and also offers embedded finance for platforms. The firm is public. Headquartered in Amsterdam.

Founded
2006

Best for

Enterprises and large platforms selling online and in store in several countries, seeking one acquirer that holds its own licences.

Not ideal for

Small merchants that have modest volume, or teams expecting phone and chat support open before they sign.

Verdict

Adyen handles acceptance, processing and settlement via a platform it built itself, with its banking licence issued by De Nederlandsche Bank, UK authorisation too, and a US federal branch with licences from the OCC and from the Federal Reserve. Merchants get 150+ currencies, 200+ payment methods and acquiring locally in 27+ markets, and the same data covers online and point-of-sale payments.

Published pricing is a guide only: a processing fee of $0.13 on every transaction plus the payment method fee, and for Visa and Mastercard that fee equals interchange++ plus 0.60%. Adyen applies neither a setup fee nor a monthly fee, though its minimum invoice applies and depends on the industry or the business model, which points it toward larger merchants. When we checked, the public status page listed 99.999% uptime over the previous 30 days.

Score breakdown

How Adyen is scored on criteria buyers in this category care about.

Buyer outcomes

Payment methods and markets9.0

200+ payment methods and 150+ currencies, with local card acquiring across 27+ markets spanning Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

Acceptance and reliability9.0

It acquires directly, under licences it holds, and on September 23, 2026 its public status page reported 99.999% uptime across the last 30 days.

Developer experience8.4

Public documentation and an API Explorer, server libraries for several languages, terminal API libraries and a complete test environment.

Fraud and risk tools8.6

Both Uplift and Protect, its component, apply AI to weigh cost, conversion and fraud protection on one platform.

Company and commercial

Product depth and roadmap9.0

Payments online and in person are unified, with embedded finance, capital and issuing, and acquisitions of Talon.One and Orb finished on July 1, 2026.

Onboarding and support7.2

Academy courses and the help center are open to the public, but email and phone support require login.

Pricing transparency8.2

Per-transaction prices are published as indicative, for example, Visa and Mastercard at $0.13 plus interchange++ plus 0.60%; sales sets the custom pricing.

Contract terms6.6

There are no setup, monthly or closure fees, but a minimum invoice applies and varies by industry or business model.

The field at a glance

Placement of Adyen by Overall Score among Payments & acquiring companies reviewed by us.

Use-case fit

Use caseFitNotes
Enterprise global acquiringStrongIn 27+ markets Adyen acquires locally under its own licences.
Online and in-store payments unifiedStrongTerminals and online payments use a shared platform and a shared data set.
Embedded payments for platformsStrongPlatforms can give their users payments, accounts and capital.
Small online shopPoorWhere volume is small, the minimum invoice and enterprise sales process leave a poor fit.

Who it's for

Good fit

  • Worldwide retailers selling online and in store
  • Firms in hospitality, travel and digital media with cross-border sales
  • Platforms wanting payments and financial products embedded

Poor fit

  • Small merchants, low monthly volume
  • Teams wanting instant support and self-serve signup
  • Businesses selling in only one country and one channel

Key facts

Card pricingIndicative Visa and Mastercard pricing: $0.13 processing fee plus interchange++ plus 0.60% Source
LicencesDe Nederlandsche Bank supervises this EU credit institution; the OCC licenses its US federal branch, as does the Federal Reserve Source
Coverage27+ local acquiring markets, 200+ payment methods and 150+ currencies Source
CertificationsPCI DSS v4.0 Level 1, ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2 Source
ScaleProcessed volume was €803.8 billion over the first half of 2026 Source

Sources

  1. Adyen pricing: https://www.adyen.com/pricing (As of September 23, 2026)
  2. Adyen about: https://www.adyen.com/about (As of September 23, 2026)
  3. Adyen infrastructure: https://www.adyen.com/infrastructure (As of September 23, 2026)
  4. Adyen accept payments: https://www.adyen.com/accept-payments (As of September 23, 2026)
  5. Adyen US licence: https://www.adyen.com/licenses/united-states (As of September 23, 2026)
  6. Adyen EMEA licences: https://www.adyen.com/licenses/emea (As of September 23, 2026)
  7. Adyen security certifications: https://help.adyen.com/knowledge/security/security-principles/what-are-the-adyen-security-certifications (As of September 23, 2026)
  8. Adyen Uplift: https://www.adyen.com/uplift (As of September 23, 2026)
  9. Adyen developer libraries: https://docs.adyen.com/development-resources/libraries (As of September 23, 2026)
  10. Adyen support contact: https://help.adyen.com/contact (As of September 23, 2026)
  11. Adyen system status: https://status.adyen.com/ (As of September 23, 2026)
  12. Adyen H1 2026 results: https://www.adyen.com/press-and-media/adyen-publishes-h1-2026-financial-results-3wjne (As of September 23, 2026)

Methodology

This page sets out an independent evaluation of Adyen for companies choosing a provider in Payments & acquiring. The Fintech Index accepts no payment for placement, sponsorship or advertising, and Adyen paid nothing for this review.

The Overall Score averages eight criteria, each given a score from 0 to 10. Four measure outcomes that matter to buyers in this category, and four address the company, including its commercial terms.

Scores are our editorial reading of public information: filings, compliance disclosures, product documentation, and pricing and legal pages. Lab tests were not run and accounts were not opened for this review. We checked the facts on September 23, 2026.