Adyen

Online payments have made banking and online shopping way easier. Now we can easily make payments to people sitting miles away without visiting the bank, saving time and money on travel. Buying things online and making payments through credit cards/debit cards have made things simpler. Other than credit cards and debit cards, apps are also some online payment methods that not only allow easy transfer of money but also allow bill payments, like electricity or broadband. The successful online payment through the cards, wallets, or payment apps depends on the gateway or the payment processor the platform uses (responsible for the security at the same time). Companies like Adyen are behind such payment processors that make every online transaction possible and secure.

About Adyen

Adyen is a Netherlands-based payment company with its headquarters based in Amsterdam. The company was founded in 2006, and since then, it has been providing e-commerce, mobile, and point-of-sale payment services. Payment service provider, gateway, risk management, local acquiring, point of sale, issuing are the major services by Adyen, which works on payment methods like a credit card, debit card, online banking, etc. Other than Amsterdam, Adyen has its branches in cities like Berlin, Brussels, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Manchester, Melbourne, Mexico City, Milan, Mumbai, Munich, New York, Paris, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Warsaw.

As per the 2020 records, the Adyen made annual revenues worth €684.2 million, and over 2300 people are working for it. In 2015, the company became the sixth largest European unicorn with a valuation worth $2.3 billion.

The Founding

Some of the Bibit ex-employees founded Adyen in 2006 after gaining enough experience in the field of online payments. The team included Pieter van der Does (CEO at Adyen) and Arnout Schuijff (Adyen CTO). Till the year 2012, the company was struggling to get a hold on the payment market in the Netherlands. But the real growth of the company started in 2011 when it started to expand globally. In the period of four-five years, Adyen opened offices in San Francisco, London, Paris, and many other cities of European countries. In 2016, the company reported a 99 percent growth in gross revenues as it made revenues worth $727 million that year.

In 2015, the company was valued at $2.3 billion, becoming the sixth largest European unicorn. The next year, Forbes ranked the company #10 in its Cloud 100 list and #5 in the same list in 2017. By 2017, It had gained acquiring licenses in pan-European, Brazil, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, etc. The company also received the European banking license in 2010, such that it had gained the status of an acquiring bank.

Adyen had its first IPO in 2018, and it went public on Euronext Amsterdam. The same year, the company bagged a partnership agreement from eBay, where the Company became the primary payment processing partner of the latter. In 2019, Adyen expanded its operations to Japan, India, and Africa as well as launched Adyen Issuing, a card (physical as well as virtual) issuing business. The company experienced a 51% increase in the annual revenue in the same year, as it made revenues worth EUR 497 million. In 2020, launched mobile Android POS devices for its global customers as a result of the outburst of Covid-19.

The CEO at Adyen

Pieter van der Does is one of the co-founders of Adyen and the current CEO at Adyen. He is a Dutch national and was born in 1968. Pieter has got a master’s degree in economics from the University of Amsterdam. His last job was at Bibit Global Payment Services, where he worked as the chief commercial officer. During his time at the company, he met the other co-founder of Adyen, and after Bibit was acquired by Royal Bank of Scotland in 2004, they decided to start Adyen. Pieter has been serving Adyen as the CEO from the inception of the company. Forbes ranked Pieter in its Forbes Billionaire list in 2020.