Adyen Singapore: A comprehensive guide to payment solutions for businesses

Adyen is a digital payment solutions company headquartered in Amsterdam that allows businesses to accept payments online, in store, or in app. They support a wide variety of local payment methods around the world and processed EUR 970.1 billion worth of global payments in 2023.¹ 

Could Adyen be the right payment gateway for your business? Find out in this deep dive of Adyen Singapore’s features, their payment solutions, software integrations, and fees. We’ll also explore an Adyen alternative called Airwallex, which allows businesses to accept eCommerce payments and manage global financial operations in one platform.

What does Adyen Singapore do?

Adyen offers a wide range of services that include payment gateways, point-of-sale (POS) solutions, merchant accounts, card issuing services, and revenue optimization tools. 

In 2017, Adyen established their Asia Pacific regional headquarters in Singapore. Three years later, Adyen Singapore received their Major Payment Institution licence from the Monetary Institute of Singapore (MAS) for cross-border money transfers. In 2021, their licence expanded to cover domestic money transfer services and merchant acquisition.²

Adyen payment solutions for businesses

Adyen Singapore offers the following services for accepting online and point-of-sale payments. 

Adyen payment gateway

With Adyen’s payment gateway, your business can accept, process, and settle payments from customers via your website or app. On top of accepting major credit and debit cards, you also get access to 100+ local payment methods that include digital wallets, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL), or direct bank transfers. This means you can offer PayNow to Singaporean customers, Alipay to customers in China, or Gcash in customer in the Philippines. In comparison, Airwallex’s payment gateway also offers localised payments with support for over 180 local payment methods globally.

Adyen helps brands create great payment experiences by letting you customise the checkout flow. For example, you can dynamically show local payment methods based on your customer’s location, or pre-fill payment details from returning customers.³  

Adyen’s payment gateway offers dynamic currency conversion (DCC), which means your customer can choose to pay in the local currency or their own currency.⁴

Like Adyen, Airwallex’s payment gateway also offers DCC as well as like-for-like settlement. Like-for-like settlement means you receive payouts in the same currency as the original transaction, without any currency conversion. 

Adyen Singapore supports like-for-like settlement in 5 currencies - SGD, USD, THB, JPY and HKD.⁵ If you serve customers in the EU or China, you may want to consider Airwallex instead. We support like-for-like settlement in 11 currencies, which also include EUR, CNY, and more.  

Adyen POS terminals

Adyen offers a wide range of POS terminals and devices for secure in-person payments. Mobile card readers like the Adyen NYC1 and AMS1 terminals offer a simple solution for accepting payments on-the-go.⁶ The Adyen S1E2L has more advanced features like a 5M pixel rear camera, barcode reader, and fingerprint reader.⁷ Meanwhile, the Adyen V400M lets you offer printed receipts and supports Bluetooth for advanced customer journeys.⁸

Adyen also offers solutions like Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android. This lets you accept payments directly on your smartphones without needing additional hardware.

Adyen omnichannel

Omnichannel means linking all your customer-facing channels so that shoppers can start their journey on one channel and complete it on another, such as buying a product online and returning it in-store.  

Adyen’s Unified Commerce takes omnichannel a step further by integrating data from all channels into a single platform. This makes it easier to understand your customers' needs, enhance the experience to improve customer loyalty, and streamline all your payments data into one dashboard.⁹

Adyen for platforms

If you run an online platform or marketplace, you need to offer a secure yet simple payment process that will encourage repeat purchases, support an increasing volume of transactions, and pay out quickly to sellers. 

Adyen for Platforms offers an end-to-end payment solution for marketplaces, from new user onboarding to payout. With support for 33 countries and 23 languages, you can easily support sellers from these regions and offer popular global or local payment methods.¹⁰ They also offer a “split payments” feature that automates the process of taking your commission and paying other parties like the seller or shipping company.¹¹

Airwallex also offers Payments for Platforms on a much wider scale. Your customers can process payments in 180+ countries and boost checkout rates by supporting 170+ currencies and 160+ local payment methods. They also benefit from like-for-like settlement in 11 currencies and avoid unnecessary conversion fees.

Adyen financial products

With Adyen’s financial products, your platform or marketplace can start offering the following financial services to your users:

• Business accounts. Your users can open a business account under your brand, which they can use to send funds, pay invoices, or receive funds.¹²

• Issuing. Adyen lets you issue virtual and physical debit cards from Mastercard and Visa to your users.¹³

• Payouts. Adyen's payout services enable you to transfer funds to suppliers or partners, even if they don’t have an Adyen account.¹⁴

• Capital. If you operate a marketplace or run a software-as-service company, you can offer business financing from Adyen directly to your users without an additional application process. Users can pay daily based on a fixed percentage of their processed volume.¹⁵

Why choose Adyen for your business

Now that we’ve gone through Adyen’s core features, here’s why Adyen might be right for your business:

• Seamless omnichannel payments. Adyen’s merchant services could be ideal for your business if you need an omnichannel solution. Adyen offers seamless processing for online, in-app, and in-store transactions, ensuring a unified payment experience for your customers and streamlined reporting for your business.

• Fast cross-border payouts. When processing cross-border payments, you want to receive payments quickly in your preferred currency. Adyen supports over 30 currencies globally so you get paid in the currency you want. Adyen also has a Sales Day Payout method that lets you receive a full day's sales in one payment.¹⁶

• Recurring payment solutions. Adyen may be right for your subscription-based business due to its robust recurring payment solutions. Adyen automates billing cycles, ensuring timely and accurate payments, which improves revenue predictability.

• Buy now, pay later (BNPL). Like Airwallex, Adyen Singapore supports 2 BNPL methods - Grab PayLater and Atome - which can be useful if you operate in multiple Southeast Asian markets.

Alternative digital banking solution for international businesses: Airwallex Payment Gateway

If you need a payment gateway to support your overseas expansion, consider Airwallex as an alternative to Adyen. 

Founded in Australia in 2015, Airwallex offers an all-in-one financial platform for global businesses. Airwallex and Adyen share many of the same features, including a payment gateway that offers local payment methods, integration options, and transparent fees. 

Here’s why Airwallex might be a better fit for your business:

Offer more local payment methods and currencies 

Highlight that Airwallex accepts 180+ currencies using 160+ local payment methods, which is more extensive compared to Adyen payment methods.

Adyen and Airwallex help you enter overseas markets by offering local payment methods. Between the two, Airwallex’s payment gateway has greater global coverage, with support for 160+ local payment methods in 180+ countries. 

You can also show prices in local currencies to boost checkout rates, and lock in your preferred foreign exchange rate for 72 hours to safeguard against currency fluctuations.

Like-for-like settlement in 11 currencies

Our Payment Gateway saves you unnecessary currency conversion with like-for-like settlement in AUD, CAD, CHF, EUR, GBP, HKD, JPY, NZD, SGD, THB, USD.

You can accept payments in these currencies without converting to SGD and hold the funds in your Airwallex account. Later on, you can use those funds to pay out to suppliers in the same currency. 

In contrast, Adyen Singapore only supports like-for-like settlement in 5 currencies - HKD, SGD, JPY, THB and USD.

Market-leading exchange rates

When you need to exchange currencies, Airwallex offers friendly and transparent interbank rates and risk management solutions. Get your preferred exchange rates and minimise the impact of currency fluctuations on your business.

Fast international payments to 150+ countries

Airwallex is more than just a payment gateway. We also offer a fast, cost-effective way to send cross-border payments to 150+ countries and regions in 60+ currencies. Transfers can cost less than SWIFT payments because of our partnerships with local payment rails. This means international payments have 0 transfer fees when you use local payment methods.

If you need to pay multiple suppliers or vendors, you can automate your accounts payable with Bill Pay.

Multiple integration options

Like Adyen, Airwallex offers integration options that suit your needs and development resources. Hosted payment pages and no-code integrations with eCommerce platforms such as Shopify and WooCommerce allow you to build a frictionless global checkout fast. Businesses who want more control over checkout can use pre-built UI components or APIs for a fully customised checkout experience.  

Airwallex also integrates with regional marketplaces like Lazada and Shopee so you can streamline order and sales data from these channels.

Unlimited Borderless Cards with expense management

Airwallex empowers your team to handle corporate expenses with Borderless Cards. This multi-currency debit card lets you pay in multiple currencies held in your Global Account, with no foreign transaction fees. A built-in expense management system simplifies approvals, reimbursements, and gives you full visibility over corporate spend.

End-to-end payment capabilities

Airwallex’s end-to-end payment capabilities mean you can manage your business’s financial operations within one platform. 

Whether it’s accepting payments via payment gateway, holding multiple currencies, sending payments to 150+ countries, issuing corporate cards, or managing expenses, Airwallex can bring these essential operations under one roof. You’ll avoid the administrative hassle of managing multiple vendors, and save on unnecessary conversion fees.

Airwallex fees explained

Like Adyen, Airwallex does not charge monthly subscription fees. Instead, we charge per payment gateway transaction using a simple blended pricing model. For major card networks like Visa, Mastercard and American Express, fees are 3.30% for locally-issued cards and 3.60% for overseas cards. 

Local payment methods in 180+ countries are also charged a percentage of the transaction. You can view Airwallex’s fee schedule to forecast the costs of supporting your customers’ preferred payment methods.

What are Adyen's pricing and costs?

Like Airwallex, Adyen does not charge set-up fees or subscription fees. Both services offer pay-as-you-go pricing where businesses only pay a small fee per transaction. This eliminates the need for hefty upfront fees or long-term commitments.

Adyen and Airwallex’s payment gateway has two pricing models:

Interchange ++ pricing 

Interchange pricing is made up of 3 components: an interchange fee from the card issuer (the credit card company or bank), a card scheme fee from the card network (i.e. Visa or Mastercard), and a markup from Adyen for acquiring the funds from your customers.

Interchange prices depend on where the customer’s card is issued, card network, and whether the customer made the payment online or in person. This means the amount you pay per transaction depends on what the current interchange fee and card scheme fee is. Although this pricing model is the most transparent, its variable nature makes it difficult to forecast payment gateway costs.

Adyen Singapore applies interchange++ pricing for card payments using Visa, Mastercard, and Maestro. In some situations, interchange++ pricing applies to Diners, Discover, and JCB card payments.¹⁹

By default, Airwallex offers blended pricing for all payment methods. However, interchange++ pricing can be offered to suitable businesses upon request.

Blended pricing 

Blended pricing is the most common pricing model. It charges a percentage of the transaction and/or a fixed fee, which covers all processing costs. This makes it easier to estimate the fees your business needs to cover each month. 

Adyen Singapore charges blended pricing for payments via American Express, digital wallets like GrabPay, and BNPL schemes like Atome.

How to integrate Adyen with your website or app?

To get started with Adyen’s payment gateway, you’ll need at least one developer to manage the technical integration process. Here’s a brief overview of how to integrate Adyen with your website or app:

Step 1 - Create an Adyen test account²⁰

When you create a free Adyen account, you gain access to a test Customer Area. This is a dashboard where you can set up and manage Adyen integrations for different markets and currencies. 

Note that you cannot accept payments from customers with a test account. You need a live account to do this. (See step 3) 

Step 2 - Start building your integration

Your test account lets you build any of the following integrations. However, you need to have a live account before you can complete the integration. (See step 3)

• Online payments. Use Adyen’s APIs and customisable components to accept web and mobile payments

• In-person payments. Accept payments through Adyen’s POS terminals or POS mobile app.

• Adyen for Platforms. 

Step 3 - Apply for a live account

You need a live Adyen account before you can start accepting customer payments. Review the eligibility requirements²¹ and reach out to your Adyen account manager. 

Step 4 - Sign the contract 

If your live account application is successful, you will receive a contract from Adyen as well as a data security form. This ensures that your technical integrations comply with Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards.  

Step 5 - Configure your account and go live

The settings from your test account cannot be copied to your live account. You need to configure live settings for your integrations. Refer to Adyen’s go-live checklist for online payments, in-person payments, and Adyen for Platforms to make sure you’re ready to accept customer payments.

Final thoughts

While Adyen Singapore’s platform provides a unified view of all payments coming from online and offline channels, for businesses that wish to avoid unnecessary conversion fees and the hassle of managing different platforms as you scale and expand beyond Singapore - Airwallex offers an all-in-one payments platform that includes multi-currency accounts, international transfers, corporate cards, eCommerce payments and more.

• Support for 160+ local payment methods in 180+ countries and regions. 

• Like-for-like settlement in 11 currencies. Avoid unnecessary currency conversion by accepting and settling payments in the same currencies.

• 23+ Global Accounts where you can hold foreign currency payments and payout to suppliers or staff in the same currencies.

• Market-leading foreign exchange rates

• No-code eCommerce integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce and other leading eCommerce platforms. 

• Flexible integration options, ranging from a simple plug-and-play solution to a fully customisable checkout.

• Pre-chargeback program and smart retry logic that reduces chargebacks while improving payment acceptance rates.

• 3DS fraud engine that protects your funds and customer data

• Embedded finance solutions like Global Treasury, banking as service and payments for platforms. 

• Transparent blended pricing, which makes your costs predictable even when transaction volumes fluctuate

While Adyen remains a compelling payments provider for omnichannel brands, Airwallex is uniquely positioned to help aspiring businesses grow beyond Singapore. Local businesses like Dreamcore already use Airwallex for eCommerce payments, while eCommerce platforms such as SHOPLINE improved their retention rate with Airwallex’s embedded finance. Build a thriving global business and create a free Airwallex account today.

Articles you may be interested in:

• 7 best cross payment services & solutions in 2024

• Cross-border payments & transactions: What is it & how does it work in Singapore?

• Compare the best business bank accounts in Singapore for 2024

Frequently asked questions

1. Is Adyen or Stripe better?

Whether Adyen or Stripe is better depends on your business needs. Adyen offers advanced features for larger enterprises, while Stripe provides a straightforward payment gateway that’s ideal for startups and small businesses. Check out our Stripe payment guide to learn more about how it works and their fees. 

You may also want to consider Airwallex if you need an all-in-one payments platform with multi-currency accounts, international transfers, expense management, and eCommerce payments.

2. What countries is Adyen available in?

Adyen accepts online and in-person payments in nearly 100 countries²², while Adyen for Platforms is available in 33 countries.²³ Airwallex, on the other hand, is available in 180+ countries and supports 60+ currencies.

3. What makes Adyen special?

Adyen stands out for its multi-channel payment platform. Adyen also owns local acquiring licences with card schemes in 10+ countries, including Singapore. Airwallex, on the other hand, has acquiring licenses with card schemes in 35 countries. This enables businesses in these markets to accept a wide range of card payments locally - reducing costs and improving authorization rates.

4. Is Adyen the same as PayPal?

No, Adyen and PayPal are not the same. Adyen supports more payment methods, and offers services like payments and financial products for platforms. Paypal focuses on accepting card payments and Paypal account payments. 

5. Is Adyen regulated by MAS?

Yes. Like Airwallex, Adyen Singapore is licensed and regulated by the MAS as a Major Payment Institution. Airwallex (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. is licensed in Singapore as a Major Payment Institution and is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (License No. PS20200541).

Sources

1. https://www.adyen.com/press-and-media/adyen-publishes-h2-2023-financial-results

2. https://www.adyen.com/press-and-media/adyen-now-licensed-under-payment-services-act-as-a-major-payments-institution-in-singapore

3. https://www.adyen.com/web-payments

4. https://docs.adyen.com/point-of-sale/currency-conversion/

5. https://docs.adyen.com/account/supported-currencies/

6. https://www.adyen.com/devices/ams1

7. https://www.adyen.com/devices/castles-s1e2l

8. https://www.adyen.com/devices/verifone-v400m

9. https://www.adyen.com/unified-commerce

10. https://www.adyen.com/platform-payments

11. https://docs.adyen.com/marketplaces/split-transactions/

12. https://www.adyen.com/accounts

13. https://www.adyen.com/issuing

14. https://www.adyen.com/payouts

15. https://www.adyen.com/capital

16. https://www.adyen.com/knowledge-hub/cross-border-payments-go-global-process-local

17. https://docs.adyen.com/marketplaces/currency-conversion/

18. https://docs.adyen.com/account/supported-currencies/#apac

19. https://www.adyen.com/pricing

20. https://www.adyen.com/signup

21. https://docs.adyen.com/get-started-with-adyen/application-requirements

22. https://docs.adyen.com/point-of-sale/what-we-support/supported-languages/

23. https://www.adyen.com/platform-payments

This publication does not constitute legal, tax, or professional advice from Airwallex nor substitute seeking such advice, and makes no express or implied representations / warranties / guarantees regarding content accuracy, completeness, or currency. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [[email protected]]. Airwallex (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (201626561Z) is licensed as a Major Payment Institution and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.