What is Adyen?
Adyen is a Dutch payment processing company that accepts popular payment methods in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Security and optimization tools, plus zero monthly and setup fees, make Adyen appealing for small businesses that want to accept payments across multiple sales channels.
However, Adyen may not be the best option for low-volume merchants or brick-and-mortar businesses because of its minimum invoice amount and lack of features for physical storefronts. Clients include Spotify, Uber and Etsy.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
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» MORE: What is a point-of-sale system?
Deciding factors
| Payment processing cost |
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| Monthly fee | $0. |
| Hardware cost | Undisclosed/quote only. Verifone and house brand card readers and mobile POS devices available. |
| Contract length | The contract is continuous unless you or Adyen terminate it by giving a minimum of two months' written notice. Early termination is possible when certain contract conditions aren’t met by either party. |
| Live support | Support tickets available. |
How does Adyen payment processing work?
Adyen is an omnichannel payment processing company that provides merchants with multiple ways to accept payments on a single platform. Its payment services include a payment gateway for online payments, point-of-sale systems for in-person transactions and integration for in-app or mobile payments. The company also provides merchant accounts necessary to receive payments.
- Merchants get access to software that allows them to accept credit cards and other payments. When a customer uses a card to pay, Adyen processes the payment, deducts its fees and sends the remaining funds to your merchant account. It can take up to two business days for the payout funds to be deposited in your account.
- Adyen allows small businesses to accept a full range of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets and direct debits.
- Its payment solutions work in over 30 currencies and in countries such as the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates and more.
- The company will help set up a test account to explore the platform and make a test payment before applying for a live account. Once approved, you get a contract and “go-live checklists” to help you set up your account.
» MORE: What is a payment processor?
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Adyen cost
Adyen charges a processing fee plus a payment method fee per transaction in North America.
- Credit card fees: Adyen uses an “interchange plus” pricing model for Mastercard and Visa transactions. It’s a combination of the interchange fee charged by the bank that issued the credit card, the fee from the card network and the applicable acquirer markup.
- Digital wallet payments: Fees are specific to the respective payment method.
- Other fees: The company doesn’t charge merchants monthly fees, setup fees, integration fees or closure fees, but it does require invoice minimums determined by business model and industry.
| Payment Method | Processing Fee | Payment Method Fee in U.S. (Prices Vary Outside of U.S.) |
|---|---|---|
| ACH Direct Debit | $0.12 | $0.25 (Refunds $0.20) |
| Affirm, PayPal | $0.12 | Depends on contract with Affirm or PayPal |
| Afterpay, Zip | $0.12 | 4.99% + $0.30 |
| American Express | $0.12 | 3.3% + $0.10 |
| Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay | $0.12 | Depends on card used. |
| Diners Club, Discover | $0.12 | 3.95% |
| Google Pay | $0.12 | 3.95% |
| JCB | $0.12 | 3.75% |
| Klarna | $0.12 | 4.29% + $0.30 |
| Maestro, Mastercard, V-pay, Visa | $0.12 | Interchange++ |
| Paysafecard | $0.12 | 10%-12% |
| UnionPay | $0.12 | 3.00% |
Sales channels
Adyen payment services allow business owners to accept payments online and in person. Merchants that operate platforms or marketplaces can also use Adyen.
Online
- You can create checkout experiences for your website, in app and mobile devices.
- Adyen is PCI DSS Level 1 PCI-compliant and offers a number of online payment APIs for integration with your preferred device.
- There are options to build a branded experience, customize payment flows, apply discounts and set up recurring subscription payments.
- Adyen also provides an artificial intelligence-powered risk system that can help avoid common fraud attacks.
Point-of-sale
- For brick-and-mortar businesses, Adyen offers a point-of-sale solution that allows merchants to accept payments in person.
- Merchants can take payments at cash registers, from mobile devices and from web browsers with the use of API.
- You can choose from a wide range of POS terminals including mobile, countertop and portable devices — all PCI compliant and encrypted.
Platforms
- Adyen for Platforms is for marketplace businesses, such as Etsy and Vinted.
- It provides payouts in all major currencies.
- Users of your marketplace can sign up, sell their products and get paid.
- You can allocate payouts in users’ preferred currencies and directly to their bank accounts.
- The platform also has an automated onboarding and verification process for submerchants.
Additional features
Global acquiring
Adyen enables businesses all over the world to accept payments and allows processing locally, as well as across borders, which can improve authorization rates and lower transaction fees. Because Adyen has full ownership over the payment flow, you connect to a single platform and don’t have to manage multiple providers.
Risk management
RevenueProtect is a customizable risk-management tool to help prevent fraud. Risk templates and rules can create a customized fraud setting that checks each transaction. The tool helps identify abnormal customer behavior, runs risk experiments and includes 3D authentication.
Revenue optimization
RevenueAccelerate can minimize the risk of failed transactions, reduce customer drop-off rates and lower payment costs. You can send the right payment data in the format the issuing bank prefers and automatically recover revenue from declined payments.
Reporting and customer insights
Adyen’s Customer Area displays payment data from all sales channels to help businesses understand sales channel performance, identify frequent purchasers, study payment methods and test loyalty programs. You can also add new payment methods, create local accounts and access support.
Unified Commerce
With Adyen’s Unified Commerce, merchants connect online and offline payment channels into one system so customers can enjoy the flexibility of purchasing across both.
Integrations
Adyen offers a number of integrations for Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento), SAP Commerce Cloud, Shopware 6 and various Oracle and Salesforce products. BigCommerce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, WooCommerce and other plugins exist.
Adyen benefits
Omnichannel payments platform
Adyen’s all-in-one payments platform can process payments from in-store, online and app customers as well as from a marketplace.
Global operations
- The company has global reach, offering services for North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa in over 30 currencies.
- Payments can be processed both locally and internationally.
Lack of additional fees
- There’s no monthly fee to use the software, and you can skip setup fees, integration and closure fees. Adyen charges fees per transaction — a processing fee plus a payment method fee.
- Multiple bank accounts, 24/7 support and access to platform tools are all free of charge.
Adyen drawbacks
Pricing complexity
- Although Adyen’s interchange-plus pricing model is transparent and often cost effective, it’s more complex than the flat-rate model some competitors use.
- The specific transaction cost depends not only on the geographic location, but also on the payment method.
- Because merchants must meet a monthly invoice minimum, it may not be the most affordable solution for low-volume merchants.
Lack of features for brick-and-mortar operations
- Although Adyen offers great functionality for online businesses, it may not be the best fit for businesses whose sales are primarily in a physical location.
- POS terminals are offered on the website, but pricing isn’t available and multi-device kits aren’t listed.
- You also won’t find built-in features for inventory and staff management, although you may be able to achieve this through an app integration.
Alternatives to Adyen
Braintree
Pricing:
- 2.89% plus 29 cents per transaction for credit cards, debit cards and digital wallets.
- 3.49% plus 49 cents for Venmo (U.S. only).
- 0.75% for ACH (maximum fee of $5). Discounts available for enterprise businesses.
Why we like it: Braintree Payments is a PayPal service. It offers many of the same benefits as Adyen, using a less complex pricing model with no minimums or monthly fees. Like Adyen, you will have your own dedicated merchant account and be able to accept credit and debit cards as well as digital wallet payments. It supports merchants in over 40 countries and regions and more than 130 currency types. Braintree also includes fraud tools, data security and scalable options for marketplace businesses.
Read our full Braintree review.
Square
Pricing:
- 2.6% plus 15 cents for in-person transactions with Free plan.
- 3.3% plus 30 cents for online transactions with Free plan.
- 2.5% plus 15 cents for in-person transactions with Plus plan.
- 2.4% plus 15 cents for in-person transaction with Premium plan.
- 2.9% plus 30 cents for online transactions with Plus and Premium plans.
- 3.5% plus 15 cents for manually keyed transactions.
Why we like it: Square is a payment processor with a simple pricing model, features for brick-and-mortar businesses and the flexibility to process in-person, in-app and online payments. It provides free point-of-sale software with a variety of hardware, including card readers and registers. You’ll also get free inventory and team management features. Square’s global reach is smaller than Adyen's, with payment acceptance available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Spain and Ireland.
Read our full Square POS review.
A version of this article was first published on Fundera, a subsidiary of NerdWallet.
