Adyen UK Review 2026: Fees, Payments & Card Terminals Quick Answer
Adyen is a global payment platform designed primarily for established, growing and enterprise businesses that want to accept payments online, in person and in-app through one connected system.
Unlike a simple card-reader provider, Adyen combines:
payment processing
merchant acquiring
online payments
physical payment terminals
200+ payment methods
local acquiring
fraud and payment optimisation tools
tokenisation
unified commerce
multi-currency payments
marketplace and platform payments
Adyen’s current standard payment pricing uses a £0.11 processing fee plus the applicable payment-method fee .
For Visa and Mastercard, Adyen currently lists: £0.11 + 0.60% + Interchange++
Adyen states that its standard payment-processing pricing has no setup fee or monthly fee , although additional Adyen products and services are priced separately.
Adyen is therefore very different from providers such as SumUp, Square and myPOS.
It is particularly relevant to retailers, ecommerce businesses, hospitality groups, marketplaces, SaaS businesses, international companies and multi-site organisations that need more sophisticated payment infrastructure.
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Adyen UK at a Glance
Feature Adyen
Payment processing
Yes
Merchant acquiring
Yes
Card terminals
Yes
Online payments
Yes
In-app payments
Yes
Visa pricing
£0.11 + 0.60% + Interchange++
Mastercard pricing
£0.11 + 0.60% + Interchange++
Setup fee for standard payment processing
None advertised
Monthly fee for standard payment processing
None advertised
Payment methods
200+
Local acquiring
27+ markets
Currencies
150+
Unified commerce
Yes
Payment Links
Yes
Tokenisation
Yes
Fraud tools
Yes
Multi-site support
Yes
International payments
Yes
Best suited to
Established, multi-channel, international and enterprise businesses
Key Takeaways
Adyen is a payment platform rather than simply a card-machine provider. Businesses can accept online, in-person and in-app payments through one infrastructure.
Adyen provides payment processing and acquiring within the same wider platform.
Current standard payment processing uses a £0.11 processing fee plus the applicable payment-method fee.
Visa and Mastercard currently cost £0.11 + 0.60% + Interchange++ under Adyen’s published pricing.
Interchange++ means the final cost is not simply 0.60% + £0.11 because underlying interchange and scheme fees also apply.
Adyen currently advertises no setup or monthly fee for standard payment processing.
Other Adyen products are priced separately.
Adyen supports more than 200 payment methods.
It supports payments across more than 150 currencies.
Adyen offers physical payment terminals for face-to-face transactions.
Unified Commerce connects online and offline payment data.
Adyen is particularly relevant to larger businesses with multiple stores, markets or payment channels.
Small businesses wanting a simple low-cost reader should also compare providers such as SumUp, Square, Revolut and myPOS.
Compare Adyen with other business payment providers
How do we work?
Our comparisons are researched and reviewed by the Compare Your Business Costs editorial team using provider information, official UK guidance and business buying criteria. See how Compare Your Business Costs works.
Authored by: Ally Cox (Business Technology & B2B Services Specialist, 10+ Years’ Experience)
Last Updated: September 2026
Contents
Adyen Fees & Pricing UK Adyen uses a different pricing model from many traditional UK merchant-service providers.
For payment processing, its pricing is generally structured as fixed Adyen processing fee + payment-method fee
The current standard processing fee is £0.11 per transaction
The additional payment-method charge then depends on how the customer pays.
For major card schemes, this can use Interchange++ pricing.
Payment Method Current Published Pricing
Visa
£0.11 + 0.60% + Interchange++
Mastercard
£0.11 + 0.60% + Interchange++
American Express
£0.11 + 0.80% + 3.95%
These figures should not be interpreted as a simple flat transaction rate.
For Visa and Mastercard, the underlying interchange and scheme fees also form part of the final transaction cost.
Adyen currently states that its standard payment processing has:
no setup fee no monthly fee pay-per-transaction pricing
However, other Adyen products are priced separately.
Physical terminal hardware also has its own pricing.
The true cost therefore depends on what Adyen services your business actually uses.
Compare business payment processing rates
How Adyen Interchange++ Pricing Works Interchange++ is different from a simple flat card-processing rate.
A card transaction can include interchange fee + card-scheme fee + acquirer/provider charge + processing fee
With Interchange++ pricing, these components are passed through separately rather than being bundled into one flat percentage.
For Visa and Mastercard, Adyen’s current published pricing includes £0.11 processing fee + 0.60% + Interchange++
This means you should not read the 0.60% figure as your complete card-processing rate.
The final cost can vary according to factors such as:
card scheme
consumer or commercial card
debit or credit card
country where the card was issued
transaction channel
underlying interchange rate
applicable scheme fees
Why do larger businesses use Interchange++?
The main advantage is transparency – so instead of bundling multiple payment costs into one blended percentage, businesses can see more clearly what makes up the transaction charge.
This can be particularly useful for merchants with:
high payment volumes
multiple card types
international customers
complex payment flows
dedicated finance or payments teams
For a very small business, however, a simple flat rate can be easier to understand and forecast.
See our card machine costs guide for more information about payment fees.
How Much Does Adyen Cost? There isn’t one meaningful Adyen percentage that applies to every business and every transaction and your overall costs can depend on:
number of transactions
payment methods
card mix
transaction countries
online versus face-to-face sales
terminal requirements
additional Adyen products
international acquiring requirements
For this reason, businesses should model their costs using actual payment data.
For example:
A UK retailer mainly accepting domestic Visa and Mastercard payments will have a very different cost profile from an international ecommerce business accepting:
Visa
Mastercard
American Express
PayPal
digital wallets
local international payment methods
Compare your total payment cost rather than one headline percentage.
Adyen Card Terminals Adyen provides physical point-of-sale terminals for businesses accepting face-to-face payments and their wider in-person payment proposition includes more than 15 terminal options across different markets and use cases.
Adyen’s terminal range can support:
countertop payments
portable payments
mobile payments
self-service payments
retail checkouts
hospitality
multi-store deployments
Applicable devices can accept:
chip & PIN
contactless cards
mobile wallets
supported alternative payment methods
The available hardware and price can depend on the business, country and Adyen agreement.
Adyen’s terminal pricing is therefore different from providers that simply advertise one card reader for a fixed retail price.
Its terminal-service terms state that terminal sale prices can be agreed within the merchant agreement or set by Adyen’s current price list.
Adyen In-Person Payments Adyen’s physical terminals form part of the same wider infrastructure as its online payments – this is one of the biggest reasons an established retailer might consider Adyen.
Rather than treating:
website payments
and
shop payments
as completely separate systems, Adyen can connect the data.
That can help businesses with:
cross-channel reporting
reconciliation
customer recognition
returns across channels
international expansion
central payment management
This becomes increasingly useful as a retailer expands from one channel into:
stores + ecommerce + mobile app + international markets.
Adyen Online Payments Online payments are a major part of Adyen’s proposition and Adyen lets businesses accept, process and settle online payments through one integration.
Its ecommerce infrastructure can support:
website payments
mobile checkout
in-app payments
stored payment details
recurring payments
international payments
local payment methods
digital wallets
tokenised payments
Businesses can choose between different implementation approaches depending on how much control they want over checkout.
These range from more ready-made components through to highly customised API integrations.
This makes Adyen much more relevant to businesses with development resources or sophisticated ecommerce requirements than to a merchant simply looking for a basic payment link.
Adyen Payment Methods Adyen currently supports more than 200 payment methods through its wider platform which can include:
Visa
Mastercard
American Express
Apple Pay
Google Pay
PayPal
buy now, pay later methods
bank-based payment methods
local payment methods in international markets
Not every payment method has the same fee.
Adyen’s pricing page provides separate payment-method charges.
This matters particularly for international ecommerce.
UK customers may expect cards and digital wallets, while shoppers in another country may prefer a local payment method.
Offering those options through one integration can reduce the need for a business to maintain numerous separate payment providers.
Adyen Unified Commerce Unified Commerce is one of Adyen’s most important differentiators.
Adyen connects online and offline payments within the same payment infrastructure.
That means payment data from different channels can feed into the same system.
For example:
customer buys online → returns in store customer browses online → buys in store customer shops across several branches → transactions remain connected business expands internationally → payment data remains within the wider Adyen platform
Adyen highlights several potential benefits of this model:
simpler reconciliation
cross-channel payment insights
more flexible customer journeys
connected loyalty experiences
centralised reporting
Tokenisation can also help businesses recognise returning customers across channels without storing raw card details themselves.
This is significantly more sophisticated than simply connecting a card reader to a till.
Adyen for Retail Adyen is particularly relevant to larger and multi-site retailers and their payment infrastructure can connect:
physical stores
ecommerce
mobile apps
international locations
customer payment data
This can make it useful for businesses moving beyond a basic single-store payment setup.
A retailer with one checkout and modest card turnover may not need this level of infrastructure.
A retailer operating:
20 shops + ecommerce + international sales
has a very different payment problem.
That’s the type of complexity where Adyen’s unified approach becomes more relevant.
Adyen for Hospitality Adyen also supports hospitality and travel businesses ans potential use cases include:
restaurants
hotel groups
travel businesses
multi-site hospitality operators
international hospitality brands
Businesses can connect in-person and digital payments while centralising payment data.
This can be particularly useful where customers interact with the business across multiple touchpoints.
For smaller restaurants wanting a simple portable terminal, providers such as Dojo, Paymentsense, Square and myPOS should also be compared.
Adyen International Payments International payments are another major Adyen strength.
Adyen currently supports:
200+ payment methods 27+ local acquiring markets 150+ currencies
Local acquiring can help an international business process transactions closer to where its customers are located rather than routing every payment through one foreign acquiring setup.
Adyen also allows businesses to consolidate multiple markets within the wider platform.
This can be particularly useful for:
international ecommerce businesses
global retailers
travel companies
international hospitality groups
marketplaces
digital businesses
If your business only sells in the UK, some of this functionality may be unnecessary.
But for a company expanding internationally, the ability to add markets and local payment methods through the same infrastructure can be valuable.
Adyen Fraud Prevention & Payment Optimisation Adyen provides payment optimisation and fraud-management technology as part of its wider platform.
This is designed to balance two competing objectives stop fraudulent transactions
while avoiding unnecessary declines of legitimate customers.
Adyen’s payment infrastructure includes tools covering areas such as:
authentication
fraud detection
risk management
tokenisation
payment routing
checkout optimisation
These tools become more commercially important as transaction volumes increase.
For a merchant processing a handful of payments each day, marginal improvements in payment authorisation may have limited impact.
For an ecommerce business processing millions of pounds in payments, small changes in authorisation and fraud rates can have a much larger financial effect.
Adyen Payment Links Adyen also provides payment links where Businesses can create a link to a hosted payment page and send it to a customer through an appropriate channel.
Potential uses include:
remote payments
telephone sales
invoices
deposits
customer-service payments
social-commerce transactions
Payment Links can be useful when building a full ecommerce checkout is unnecessary.
They can also complement a larger Adyen payment setup by giving staff another way to collect payment.
Adyen goes considerably beyond standard merchant acquiring and they also provide infrastructure for platforms and marketplaces that need to manage payments between multiple parties.
Potential use cases include:
online marketplaces
SaaS platforms
on-demand platforms
franchise systems
platform businesses embedding payment services
This can involve functionality around:
accepting payments
onboarding users
splitting funds
payouts
issuing
financial products
This is another reason Adyen shouldn’t be assessed solely as a “card machine company”.
Its wider proposition is payment and financial infrastructure for businesses with more complex requirements.
Adyen Integrations & APIs Adyen is heavily integration-led and Businesses can use APIs and payment components to connect Adyen with their existing commerce infrastructure.
Its ecosystem includes integrations with technology used by larger retailers and businesses, including systems associated with:
Salesforce
Oracle
Microsoft Dynamics
retail platforms
ecommerce systems
custom applications
This gives businesses significant flexibility and also means implementation can be more technical than signing up for a basic plug-and-play card reader.
Factor integration and development work into your provider comparison where relevant.
Who Is Adyen Best For?
Business Why Adyen May Be Worth Comparing
Large retailer
Connect physical and ecommerce payments through Unified Commerce
Multi-site retailer
Centralised payment infrastructure and cross-channel data
Ecommerce business
Large payment-method range and sophisticated online payment infrastructure
International business
150+ currencies, 200+ payment methods and local acquiring
Hospitality group
Connect in-person and digital payments across multiple sites
Marketplace
Platform payments, fund management and payouts
SaaS company
Embedded and platform payment infrastructure
App-based business
Online and in-app payments within the same platform
Enterprise
Advanced integration, international acquiring, reporting and payment optimisation
Adyen will be less suitable if… Compare simpler providers carefully if:
you only need one basic card reader
your card turnover is very low
you want a simple flat transaction percentage
you don’t need ecommerce or international payments
you don’t need Unified Commerce
you want a plug-and-play payment product with minimal technical integration
you want card-reader hardware with a simple published retail purchase price
For a small café, sole trader or market seller, Adyen’s infrastructure may be more sophisticated than necessary.
For a multi-site or international business, those same capabilities can be the reason to consider it.
Adyen Alternatives
Provider Worth Comparing For
Stripe Online-first businesses, developers and integrated payments
Global Payments Enterprise, international and omnichannel payment requirements
DNA Payments UK businesses wanting acquiring, ecommerce and omnichannel payments
Worldpay Established businesses wanting online and in-person merchant services
Dojo Retail and hospitality businesses focused on face-to-face payments
Paymentsense UK SMEs wanting card terminals and integrated payments
Revolut Businesses wanting payments alongside multi-currency business finance
Square Smaller businesses wanting payments and POS tools
myPOS Small/mobile businesses wanting inexpensive standalone card machines
SumUp Small businesses wanting straightforward card-reader pricing
Compare Adyen alternatives and payment quotes
Adyen vs Stripe Adyen and Stripe are natural comparisons for larger digital and international businesses, both support:
online payments
physical payments
international payment methods
developer integrations
platform payments
complex payment flows
Adyen places considerable emphasis on direct acquiring and connecting enterprise online and physical payments through Unified Commerce.
Stripe has an extensive online-first developer ecosystem and is also widely used by startups, SaaS businesses and internet platforms.
The decision should be based on:
countries
payment methods
transaction volumes
card mix
physical locations
platform requirements
technical architecture
actual pricing offered
See our Stripe payment guide .
Adyen vs Global Payments Adyen and Global Payments both have payment propositions extending well beyond basic card terminals, both can support:
large merchants
physical payments
ecommerce
international businesses
integrated payments
multiple payment methods
Adyen’s proposition is particularly centred around a single technology platform, direct acquiring and Unified Commerce.
Global Payments also provides extensive merchant acquiring, terminals, ecommerce, POS and integrated payment infrastructure.
For a larger merchant, compare:
commercial pricing + countries + acquiring coverage + terminal estate + integrations + payment methods + settlement + reporting + implementation.
See our Global Payments UK review .
Adyen vs Worldpay Worldpay is another major alternative for established merchants.
Both providers can support face-to-face and ecommerce payments at significant scale.
The comparison becomes important for:
large retailers
international businesses
high-volume ecommerce
hospitality groups
businesses consolidating payment suppliers
Rather than comparing only the headline transaction fee, assess the full payment architecture and commercial proposal.
See our Worldpay card machine review .
Adyen vs Square Adyen and Square overlap in some areas but generally suit different levels of payment complexity.
Square is much easier for a typical small UK business to adopt, with straightforward hardware, POS tools and published payment pricing.
Adyen becomes more relevant as requirements expand across:
multiple countries
large store estates
complex ecommerce
international acquiring
many payment methods
custom integrations
See our Square card machine review .
Adyen vs SumUp SumUp is primarily relevant to the small-business end of the market and their simple hardware and payment pricing make it relatively easy for a merchant to begin accepting cards.
Adyen is designed for considerably more sophisticated payment requirements.
Small/mobile merchant → compare SumUp closely High-volume, multi-channel or international merchant → compare Adyen closely
The providers therefore shouldn’t be compared on transaction percentage alone.
See our SumUp card machine review .
Adyen Pros & Cons advantages
Online, in-person and in-app payments through one platform
Payment processing and acquiring
200+ payment methods
150+ currencies
27+ local acquiring markets
Physical payment terminals
Unified Commerce
Interchange++ pricing for major card schemes
No standard payment-processing setup fee advertised
No standard payment-processing monthly fee advertised
Advanced ecommerce capabilities
International payment infrastructure
Fraud and payment-optimisation tools
Tokenisation
Platform and marketplace payment capabilities
Strong API and integration options
disadvantages
More complex than a simple small-business card reader
Interchange++ pricing is harder to calculate than a flat percentage
The advertised 0.60% component is not the complete Visa or Mastercard transaction cost
Other Adyen products are priced separately
Physical terminal pricing can depend on the merchant agreement/current terminal price list
Many small businesses won’t need its international or Unified Commerce capabilities
Technical integration can be more involved than plug-and-play payment products
Our View: When Adyen Makes Sense Adyen is a useful example of why “card machine provider” and “payment platform” aren’t always the same thing.
A business looking for one card reader + simple published flat rate probably doesn’t need the full breadth of Adyen.
But the picture changes considerably when the requirement becomes 50 stores + ecommerce + mobile app + international sales + local payment methods + centralised payment data.
That’s where Adyen’s proposition becomes much more relevant, as their strongest commercial argument is consolidation.
Businesses can potentially bring online payments → physical terminals → in-app payments → acquiring → payment methods → fraud tools → payment data
into the same wider infrastructure.
This can make Adyen particularly relevant to
multi-site retailer → Unified Commerce international ecommerce → local acquiring and payment methods hospitality group → connected physical and digital payments marketplace → platform payments and payouts enterprise → centralised global payment infrastructure
The pricing model also deserves careful attention.
£0.11 + 0.60% + Interchange++ does not mean Visa and Mastercard simply cost 0.60% + 11p.
Interchange and scheme fees also contribute to the transaction cost.
That transparency can be useful to sophisticated merchants, but it makes comparisons with flat-rate providers less straightforward.
We would therefore compare Adyen using actual transaction data rather than a headline percentage.
Use:
payment volume → card mix → countries → payment methods → channels → terminals → integration → total processing cost.
For a smaller UK business, also compare simpler payment providers before choosing enterprise-level infrastructure.
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What to Check Before Choosing Adyen Before choosing Adyen, establish:
Your annual payment volume.
Your number of transactions.
Your average transaction value.
Your Visa and Mastercard mix.
Your consumer versus commercial card mix.
How many international cards you accept.
Which alternative payment methods you need.
Which countries you operate in.
Which currencies you accept.
How much turnover is online.
How much turnover is face-to-face.
Whether you need in-app payments.
How many physical terminals you need.
Terminal purchase and deployment costs.
Whether Unified Commerce would add genuine value.
Integration and development requirements.
Any separately priced Adyen products required.
Your expected total annual payment cost.
For an enterprise payment platform, implementation and operational fit can matter as much as the transaction percentage.
Adyen FAQs What is Adyen?
Adyen is a global financial technology and payments company providing payment processing, acquiring, physical terminals, online payments and wider financial technology infrastructure through one platform.
Is Adyen available in the UK?
Yes. Adyen provides payment services to UK businesses and publishes UK pricing in pounds.
Is Adyen a payment gateway?
Adyen provides online payment functionality, but its proposition extends considerably beyond a conventional gateway. It combines payment processing, acquiring, online payments, physical payments and other financial technology within one platform.
Is Adyen a payment processor?
Yes. Adyen processes payments and also provides acquiring capabilities.
Does Adyen provide card machines?
Yes. Adyen offers physical payment terminals for in-person payments.
How many Adyen card terminals are available?
Adyen currently describes its in-person payment proposition as offering more than 15 terminal options. Availability can depend on market and use case.
How much does Adyen cost?
Adyen generally charges a fixed processing fee plus a payment-method fee. Its current standard processing fee is £0.11 per transaction.
What are Adyen’s Visa fees?
Adyen currently lists Visa pricing as £0.11 + 0.60% + Interchange++.
What are Adyen’s Mastercard fees?
Adyen currently lists Mastercard pricing as £0.11 + 0.60% + Interchange++.
Does Adyen charge 0.60% for card payments?
Not by itself. The current Visa and Mastercard price is £0.11 + 0.60% + Interchange++. Interchange and scheme costs therefore also contribute to the final transaction charge.
Does Adyen have a monthly fee?
Adyen currently advertises no monthly fee for standard payment processing. Other Adyen products are priced separately.
Does Adyen have a setup fee?
Adyen currently advertises no setup fee for standard payment processing.
What is Adyen Interchange++?
Interchange++ separates underlying card costs rather than combining everything into one blended percentage. The final cost can include interchange, scheme fees and Adyen’s applicable charges.
Does Adyen accept Visa?
Yes. Adyen supports Visa debit and credit payments online and in person.
Does Adyen accept Mastercard?
Yes. Mastercard is supported online and through applicable physical payment terminals.
Does Adyen accept American Express?
Yes. American Express is supported. Adyen’s current published pricing should be checked for the applicable transaction cost.
Does Adyen accept Apple Pay?
Yes. Adyen supports digital-wallet payment methods including Apple Pay.
Does Adyen accept PayPal?
Adyen supports PayPal as one of the payment methods available through its wider payment platform, subject to the relevant setup and terms.
How many payment methods does Adyen support?
Adyen currently advertises more than 200 payment methods.
How many currencies does Adyen support?
Adyen currently describes its wider payment infrastructure as supporting more than 150 currencies.
What is Adyen Unified Commerce?
Unified Commerce connects payment data from online and physical channels into the same wider system. This can help businesses understand customers across channels and simplify payment management and reconciliation.
Does Adyen support online payments?
Yes. Online payments are a major part of Adyen’s platform.
Does Adyen support in-app payments?
Yes. Adyen can connect online, in-person and in-app payments through its payment infrastructure.
Does Adyen offer Payment Links?
Yes. Adyen provides payment-link functionality that allows businesses to direct customers to a hosted payment page.
Does Adyen support recurring payments?
Yes. Adyen supports recurring and stored payment use cases.
Does Adyen work internationally?
Yes. International payments are a major part of its proposition, including local acquiring, multiple currencies and local payment methods.
Is Adyen good for small businesses?
Adyen can technically support many payment scenarios, but its strongest use cases are generally businesses with more sophisticated online, international, multi-site or omnichannel payment requirements. Small businesses should compare simpler alternatives as well.
Is Adyen good for ecommerce?
Adyen has extensive ecommerce functionality including online processing, multiple payment methods, tokenisation, international acquiring and payment optimisation.
Is Adyen good for retailers?
Adyen is particularly relevant to multi-site and omnichannel retailers because its Unified Commerce infrastructure can connect online and in-store payments.
Is Adyen cheaper than Stripe?
There is no universal answer. Pricing structures, card mix, countries, payment methods and volumes all affect cost. Businesses should model both providers using their own transaction data.
Is Adyen cheaper than Square?
The providers have substantially different target use cases and pricing structures. Square can be easier for a small business to calculate, while Adyen uses payment-method and Interchange++ pricing for relevant transactions.
What are the best alternatives to Adyen?
Relevant alternatives include Stripe, Global Payments, DNA Payments, Worldpay, Dojo, Square, Revolut, myPOS and SumUp depending on the size and complexity of the business.
Should I choose Adyen?
Adyen is worth comparing if your business has significant payment volume, operates across multiple channels or countries, needs many payment methods or wants to consolidate complex payment infrastructure. Smaller businesses with straightforward requirements should compare simpler providers too.
Compare Adyen Business Payment Quotes Adyen provides significantly more than physical card terminals.
Its wider proposition includes:
merchant acquiring
payment processing
online payments
in-person payments
in-app payments
200+ payment methods
international acquiring
Unified Commerce
fraud-management technology
platform and marketplace payments
For larger businesses, the key question isn’t simply “what does an Adyen card machine cost?”
It is How much will our complete payment infrastructure cost, and what will consolidating those payments allow us to do?
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Related Payment Guides Hi, I’m Ally Cox , a senior copywriter and blogger at CompareYourBusinessCosts.co.uk, the UK’s trusted platform for comparing business services.over a decade of experience in the B2B sector, I specialise in simplifying complex topics like leased lines, VoIP, business energy, HR and payroll solutions, accounting software, and EPOS systems .HR, copywriting, and business operations- from clocking-in systems to card machines and office technology .informed, confident decisions when choosing products and services that improve efficiency and save money.
