Building a winning enterprise payments engine

Adyen has always built for the world’s largest enterprises. This influences how our platform is designed, our teams operate, and where we invest. We believe being recognized in The Forrester Wave™: Merchant Payment Providers, Q1 2026 shows that this focus sets us apart.

Enterprise businesses need infrastructure that supports global scale, regulatory compliance, and expanding into new business models. They need local expertise, dedicated consulting, and a partner who builds the path with them. 

"Adyen’s 'single platform, one integration' offering for global payments triggered a lasting industry shift and remains its core strength and differentiation."

— The Forrester Wave™: Merchant Payment Providers, Q1 2026

Many still treat payments as a necessity. In practice, payments directly affect revenue. Authorization performance influences conversion rates, optimization impacts margin, and checkout experiences shape loyalty. 

Those dynamics are becoming more pronounced as shopper behavior evolves. Over time, they’ll expect fewer explicit steps to pay and more autonomous interactions, whether it’s in-store or instructing an AI agent to find and buy exactly what they need. 

At the same time, growth transcends geography. A business in Malaysia wants to reach a buyer in New York. A marketplace wants to onboard thousands of small businesses across continents in days, not months. Funds are expected to move instantly, securely, and across borders.

Legacy financial technology was not designed for this level of flexibility. Enterprises who want to move quickly need infrastructure that can support these shifts.

Our foundation rests on three structural layers that make every product launch, market shift, and expansion easier for enterprises:

1. A single platform built in-house: Everything is developed internally and controlled end-to-end. This keeps dependencies low and avoids the fragmentation that often comes from stitching together acquired systems. For our customers, it reduces integration overhead and streamlines operations across markets and channels.

2. Financial licenses in the US, UK, and EU: Operating as a regulated financial institution gives our customers greater certainty navigating compliance and risk. This structure also lets us support payouts, issuing, and embedded financial products without layering on third parties. 

3. Dynamic Identification: As purchase journeys become more automated, understanding who (or what) initiates a transaction is critical. Our Dynamic Identification layer ensures identity is backed by real shopper behavior.

We believe recognition in The Forrester Wave™ confirms our position in the market today and validates that we have the platform to support what comes next.

Enterprises operate in highly competitive environments and need partners who can help them expand, innovate, and get great return on investment. A single in-house platform, global banking licenses, and dynamic identification capabilities provide the structural flexibility to do that.

The difference between reacting to change and being prepared for it is what defines a leader today.

Get your copy of the The Forrester Wave™ report to see how payment providers stack up.

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