Who are Adyen's competitors?
Adyen's main competitors in 2026 are Stripe, PayPal's Braintree and Checkout.com in online and enterprise payments, and the large processors Global Payments (which bought Worldpay in January 2026), Fiserv and JPMorgan Payments in merchant acquiring, while Block's Square and Shift4 compete as integrated payment providers. Adyen's 2025 annual report does not name rivals in its competition section: it says Adyen competes with "banks, payment service providers, industry-specific software platforms, and orchestration platforms", some with larger merchant portfolios, greater scale or broader resources, and that where pricing becomes unsustainable it will not pursue a deal. The report's remuneration peer group, described as a combination of direct (business) competitors and fintech companies, lists PayPal, Fiserv, FIS, LSEG, Block, Global Payments, Nexi and Worldline. Trade press fills in the contest: Payments Dive (June 2025) names Fiserv and Worldpay as the processing rivals and PayPal and Stripe as the digital ones, and Reuters (May 2026) says Adyen competes with PayPal and Stripe in North America. Competitors' filings name Adyen too: Global Payments' 2025 10-K lists it with Worldline, Nexi, Block and Stripe outside the U.S., and Shift4's groups it with Square, Toast, Lightspeed and Shopify. By scale, Adyen processed €1,394.3 billion in 2025; businesses on Stripe generated $1.9 trillion in total volume and PayPal processed $1.79 trillion of TPV the same year. In agentic commerce, an S&P Global analyst told PYMNTS in November 2026 that Stripe and Adyen are particularly well positioned because of their unified platforms.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
Data as of Nov 2, 2026 · Adyen profile updated Oct 22, 2026 · 39 sources cited on this page · 56 fintechs profiled on this site · Markdown
What does Adyen say about its competition?
Adyen's 2025 annual report (published March 2026) describes competitors by type rather than by name. It splits competition risk into pricing and functionality and says it competes with "banks, payment service providers, industry-specific software platforms, and orchestration platforms", some of which have larger merchant portfolios, greater scale or broader resources, alongside non-traditional processors and new entrants that compete across individual parts of the transaction value chain. Adyen states a moderate risk appetite for price competition ("where such pricing dynamics become unsustainable, Adyen will not pursue a deal") and a low appetite for losing on functionality, and cites a churn rate that "continued to be <1% in 2025, excluding one merchant".[7]
The AI-related risk sits under innovation: Adyen expects rapid technological advancements and says its business could be materially affected if it cannot keep pace with evolving technologies and industry standards. It names Dynamic Identification, which connects Uplift, onboarding, Adyen Capital and compliance "in an increasingly AI-driven environment", as its response. The H1 2026 shareholder letter frames the edge in three layers: a single global technology platform, global banking licenses that give direct access to payment networks, and Dynamic Identification, and cites GOV.UK Pay migrating from a competitor to Adyen.[7][12]
The closest Adyen comes to a list is its 2025 remuneration peer group, whose "Payment platforms" category it describes as a "combination of our direct (business) competitors and (FinTech) companies active in the payment, cryptocurrency, and banking platform sector": PayPal, Fiserv, Fidelity National Information Services, London Stock Exchange Group, Block, Global Payments, Nexi and Worldline. Rivals' own filings name Adyen: Global Payments' 2025 10-K among providers it competes with outside the U.S., Shift4's among integrated payment providers, Payoneer's among merchant service providers (with Braintree and Stripe), and ACI Worldwide's among merchant-payments competitors.[7][4][6][13][14]
Who are Adyen's main competitors, and how big are they?
One row per competitor. Scale figures are each company's own reported number for the period shown and are not comparable across rows (volume, revenue and GPV are defined differently). AI claims are the competitor's own.
| Competitor | Where they compete | Dated scale figure | How they compare on AI | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Online and enterprise payments; Reuters (May 2026) says Adyen competes with PayPal and Stripe in North America, and Global Payments' 10-K lists both among its competitors outside the U.S. | $1.9 trillion total volume generated by businesses on Stripe, 2025 | Payments Foundation Model (May 2025), trained on tens of billions of transactions; Stripe says it raised detection of card-testing attacks on large businesses by 64% | Reuters, May 2026; Global Payments 10-K FY2025; Stripe, Feb 2026 and May 2025[8][4][9][15] |
| PayPal (Braintree) | Merchant processing; Mizuho analysts said in 2023 that Braintree's "aggressive land-grab strategy in the US" likely contributed to the slowdown in Adyen's North America revenue growth; Payoneer's 10-K lists Adyen, Braintree and Stripe as merchant service providers | $1.79 trillion TPV, 2025 | Supports Meta's Muse agent (September 2026) and ChatGPT Checkout, processes payments for merchants using OpenAI's Instant Checkout, and sells Agentic Commerce Services | Payments Dive, Aug 2023; Payoneer 10-K FY2025; PayPal 10-K FY2025; American Banker, Sep 2026[2][13][10][16] |
| Checkout.com | Enterprise e-commerce acquiring; CNBC (September 2025) says Checkout.com competes with Stripe, Adyen and PayPal | Over $300 billion of ecommerce payments volume, 2025 (reported by the company) | Intelligent Acceptance, a proprietary AI that uses real-time network data to optimize each transaction; supports OpenAI's ACP, Google's UCP, Visa Intelligent Commerce and Mastercard Agent Pay | CNBC, Sep 2025; Checkout.com via PR Newswire, Mar 2026; Finextra, Jun 2026[3][17][18] |
| Global Payments (Worldpay) | Merchant acquiring online and in store; FIS's CEO said in 2023 Worldpay spars with Adyen in some parts of the market; Payments Dive (June 2026) calls Global Payments, now combined with Worldpay, and Fiserv top rivals in North America; Global Payments' 10-K names Adyen as a competitor | $2.86 billion adjusted net revenue in Q1 2026, including Worldpay (acquired for $24 billion in January 2026) | Worldpay supports OpenAI's Agentic Commerce Protocol so U.S. ChatGPT users can buy from Worldpay merchants via Instant Checkout (October 2025); Mastercard named Global Payments among companies planning to use Agent Suite for Merchants | Payments Dive, May 2023, May 2026 and Jun 2026; Global Payments 10-K FY2025; Business Wire, Oct 2025; PYMNTS, Nov 2026[19][20][4][21][22][11] |
| Fiserv (Clover, Carat) | Merchant acquiring for small businesses (Clover) and enterprises (Carat); a Fiserv executive said in 2023 Carat works to remain competitive with Stripe, Adyen and Worldpay; Payments Dive (June 2025) lists Fiserv, with Clover, among the "processing behemoths" Adyen competes against | $5.29 billion GAAP revenue (whole company), Q2 2026 | Integrating Mastercard's Agent Pay Acceptance Framework into its merchant acceptance infrastructure for AI-initiated purchases (January 2026) | Payments Dive, Oct 2023 and Jun 2025; Fiserv Q2 2026 release; PYMNTS, Jan 2026[23][1][24][25] |
| JPMorgan Payments | Merchant acquiring; American Banker (September 2025) says JPMorganChase remains the largest merchant acquirer in the world as fintechs such as Adyen, PayPal and Stripe win merchants; Klarna's 20-F lists J.P. Morgan Payments with Adyen among the world's largest PSPs | $19.3 billion Payments revenue, 2025 | Agentic commerce with Mirakl Nexus: J.P. Morgan Payments handles processing, tokenization for AI agent transactions and fraud protection; in beta with select retailers (March 2026) | American Banker, Sep 2025 and Mar 2026; Klarna 20-F FY2025; JPMorgan 10-K FY2025[5][26][27][28] |
| Block (Square) | Point of sale and integrated payments; Block is in the "Payment platforms" category of Adyen's peer group, and Shift4's 10-K groups Adyen and Square as integrated payment providers | $250 billion Square GPV, 2025 | Managerbot automates marketing, margin analysis and operational fixes for sellers (Q2 2026 letter) | Adyen Annual Report 2025; Shift4 10-K FY2025; Block 10-K FY2025; Block Q2 2026 letter[7][6][29][30] |
| Shift4 | Merchant clients in North America, per Payments Dive (June 2026); Shift4's 10-K names Adyen among the integrated payment providers it competes with | $209 billion volume, 2025 | Uses AI, machine learning and automated decision-making, including the AI-powered SkyTab Website Builder for restaurants | Payments Dive, Jun 2026; Shift4 10-K FY2025[20][6] |
What companies are similar to Adyen?
Payment companies that sell the same core service as Adyen (accepting and processing card and wallet payments for merchants), with what the record says each is built for.
| Company | Why it is similar | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Global payments platform; Klarna's 20-F lists Stripe and Adyen among the world's largest PSPs, and both act as merchant of record for merchants on Klarna's network | Businesses that also want revenue software: Stripe says its Revenue suite (Billing, Invoicing, Tax and more) is on track for a $1 billion annual run rate, and that it powers 90% of the Dow Jones Industrial Average[26][9] |
| Checkout.com | Enterprise online acquirer that processed over $300 billion of ecommerce in 2025 for brands including Uber, Spotify, eBay and Temu | Enterprise e-commerce; it announced in-person payments in October 2026, launching first in the UK and EEA, then the U.S.[17][31] |
| PayPal Braintree | PayPal's merchant processing business; Payoneer's 10-K lists Adyen, Braintree and Stripe together as merchant service providers | Merchants that also want PayPal's consumer reach: PayPal had 439 million active accounts at December 31, 2025[13][10] |
| Worldpay (Global Payments) | Global acquirer that FIS's CEO said in 2023 spars with Adyen in some parts of the market; part of Global Payments since January 2026 | Gaming and travel, the strengths FIS's CEO cited for Worldpay; Global Payments is cross-selling its Genius point of sale to Worldpay's larger restaurant customers[19][4][21] |
| J.P. Morgan Payments | Bank-owned acquirer; American Banker calls JPMorganChase the largest merchant acquirer in the world | Larger merchants: American Banker reports banks have leaned into serving larger merchants, leaving an opening for other payment companies to focus on small businesses[5] |
| Fiserv Carat | Fiserv's commerce operating system for large merchants, positioned against Stripe, Adyen and Worldpay | Enterprises in petroleum, quick-service restaurants, retail, government and B2B, the verticals Fiserv's Carat head named; small businesses use Fiserv's Clover[23] |
Where is Adyen's competition heading in 2026?
North America is the main battleground. Adyen's co-CEO Pieter van der Does said in August 2023 that online growth was lower than hoped because "we've seen increasing competitive pressure in North America". In May 2026 Reuters reported Adyen has consistently gained market share in other continents, particularly in North America, where it competes with PayPal and Stripe; North America was about 27% of Adyen's 2025 revenue of €2.36 billion, per Payments Dive.[2][8][20]
Agent-led checkout is the newest front. Meta said in October 2026 it was testing direct checkout inside Meta Business Agent with Adyen, PayPal, Shopify and Stripe. Jordan McKee of S&P Global Market Intelligence told PYMNTS on November 2, 2026 that Stripe and Adyen are particularly well positioned because of their unified platforms and modern technology, while Global Payments and Fiserv also have plans in development.[32][11]
The legacy processors are restructuring. American Banker (March 2026) described Global Payments' turnaround as following an earnings slump and increasing competition from Stripe, Block, Adyen and other rivals; PYMNTS reported CD&R and GTCR pursuing a bid for Global Payments at the end of October 2026, with no transaction announced as of November 2, and Fiserv reorganizing capabilities split between its banking and merchant businesses.[28][11]
Banks are losing ground at the small end. American Banker, citing Capgemini's 2026 World Payments Report, reported in September 2025 that payment fintechs such as Adyen, PayPal and Stripe are winning merchants with fraud prevention, analytics, financing and loyalty tools, and that 40% of small and medium-size businesses planned to switch from a bank to a payment fintech within 12 months.[5]
What does the Adyen profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the Adyen AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Oct 22, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 15 dated moves, 8 use cases and 16 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checkout inside Meta's Business Agent | Adyen is one of four payment providers (with PayPal, Shopify and Stripe) Meta is testing for direct in-conversation checkout inside Meta Business Agent on Messenger, starting fall 2026. | Announced | [32] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 2026 | Meta tests Adyen checkout inside Messenger's Business Agent | Meta said it was testing a direct checkout experience with Adyen, PayPal, Shopify and Stripe inside Meta Business Agent on Messenger this fall, alongside adding the PayPal wallet to its existing Link by Stripe and Shop Pay checkout options. | [32] |
| Aug 13, 2026 | H1 2026: Uplift lifts conversion 0.9 points | Adyen reported net revenue of €1,302.9 million (up 19%) and processed volume of €803.8 billion (up 24%), said Uplift and Dynamic Identification increased customer conversion by 0.9 percentage points on average, and listed OpenAI among its enterprise wins. | [33][12] |
| Jun 16, 2026 | Adyen Agentic launches | Adyen announced Adyen Agentic, modular APIs (Agentic Feed, Agentic Cart, Agentic Payments) that let enterprises sell through conversational AI platforms without rebuilding for each channel; limited availability for US enterprise merchants at launch. | [34] |
| Apr 23, 2026 | Adyen agrees to buy Talon.One for €750 million | Adyen agreed to acquire Talon.One, a loyalty and incentives platform, to act on shopper insight in real time across channels; the deal, financed from cash, closed on July 1, 2026. | [35][36] |
| Feb 12, 2026 | H2 2025 results; Adyen joins the Agentic AI Foundation | Full-year 2025 net revenue was €2,364.2 million (up 18%); Adyen said it had joined the Agentic AI Foundation and deepened partnerships with OpenAI, Google, Cloudflare, Visa and Mastercard. | [37] |
| Sep 7, 2023 | UK branch authorised as a bank | Adyen's UK branch was granted authorisation by the PRA and FCA under Part 4A of FSMA 2000, continuing operations previously run under the Temporary Permissions Regime. | [38] |
| Jun 14, 2021 | Adyen receives a US federal branch licence | The OCC approved Adyen's application for a Federal Foreign Branch in San Francisco, following Federal Reserve approval on May 24, 2021, extending the banking set-up Adyen runs in Europe under its 2017 European banking licence. | [39] |
Who are Adyen's biggest competitors?
Stripe, PayPal's Braintree and Checkout.com compete with Adyen in online and enterprise payments, while Global Payments (which has owned Worldpay since January 2026), Fiserv and JPMorgan Payments compete in merchant acquiring. Payments Dive names Fiserv, Worldpay, PayPal and Stripe as its rivals, and Reuters says it competes with PayPal and Stripe in North America.
What companies are similar to Adyen?
Stripe, Checkout.com, PayPal's Braintree, Worldpay (part of Global Payments), J.P. Morgan Payments and Fiserv's Carat sell the same core merchant payment processing. Klarna's 2025 20-F lists Worldpay, Stripe, Nexi, J.P. Morgan Payments and Adyen among the world's largest payment service providers.
Adyen vs Stripe: how do they compare?
Both are global payment platforms that compete for merchants, including in North America. Adyen processed €1,394.3 billion in 2025; Stripe says businesses on it generated $1.9 trillion in total volume in 2025. Each has its own AI: Adyen Uplift and Dynamic Identification, and Stripe's Payments Foundation Model.
Is PayPal a competitor of Adyen?
Yes. PayPal competes with Adyen mainly through Braintree, its merchant processing business. Mizuho analysts said in 2023 Braintree's US push likely slowed Adyen's North America revenue growth, and Reuters reported in May 2026 that Adyen competes with PayPal and Stripe in North America. PayPal processed $1.79 trillion of TPV in 2025.
Is Checkout.com a competitor of Adyen?
Yes. CNBC reported in September 2025 that Checkout.com competes with payment service providers such as Stripe, Adyen and PayPal. The London-based company says it processed over $300 billion of ecommerce payments in 2025 and announced an expansion into in-person payments in October 2026.
Does Adyen name its competitors in its annual report?
Not in its competition section, which lists types of rivals: banks, payment service providers, industry-specific software platforms and orchestration platforms. Its remuneration peer group of direct competitors and fintech companies names PayPal, Fiserv, FIS, LSEG, Block, Global Payments, Nexi and Worldline.
- Adyen opts for build over buy
- Adyen, Braintree and Stripe face off
- Once a $40 billion fintech darling, Checkout.com is now valued at $12 billion
- Global Payments Inc. Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025
- Banks are losing the fight for merchants' business
- Shift4 Payments, Inc. Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025
- Adyen 2025 Annual Report
- Payments firm Adyen defies spending slowdown as revenue holds up
- Stripe publishes 2025 annual letter and announces tender offer to provide liquidity to current and former employees
- PayPal Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025
- Global Payments Buyout Talks Signal Pressure on Legacy Processors
- H1 2026 Shareholder Letter
- Payoneer Global Inc. Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025
- ACI Worldwide, Inc. Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025
- Stripe accelerates the utility of AI and stablecoins with major launches
- PayPal partners with Meta's Muse AI assistant
- Checkout.com builds on APAC momentum with 71% TPV growth
- Checkout.com inks AI-powered payments deal with digital travel platform Agoda
- FIS CEO sizes up competition
- Adyen taps North America chief
- Global Payments touts Genius gains
- Worldpay to Unlock New Commerce Channels for Merchants with OpenAI Agentic Commerce Protocol
- Fiserv exec talks Carat competition, growth
- Fiserv Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K)
- Fiserv Integrates Mastercard Agent Pay Into Merchant Platform
- Klarna Group plc Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2025
- JPMorgan Chase & Co. Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025
- JPMorgan Payments' agentic commerce play; Ripple's Australian deal
- Block, Inc. Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025
- Block, Inc. Q2 2026 Shareholder Letter (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K)
- Checkout.com expands into in-person payments
- Meta Debuts AI Tools to Help Advertisers Find Customers
- Adyen publishes H1 2026 financial results
- Adyen Announces Adyen Agentic As the Universal Translator for the Next Era of Commerce
- Adyen to acquire Talon.One to enable real-time decisioning across commerce channels
- Adyen Closes Talon.One and Orb Acquisitions; Announces Leadership Updates Across Product and Finance
- Adyen publishes H2 2025 financial results
- Adyen granted UK banking authorization
- Adyen granted US branch license
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