Dutch Payment Platform Ayden Granted US Branch License

Payment platform Adyen has been approved for its first US branch, in San Francisco, California.

The US branch license – granted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency this week – will allow Netherlands-based Adyen to enhance its US activities and operations in line with its European business, it said in a statement.

The US license was “a logical next step” for the payments company as it sought to improve services to its US client base, said co-founder and CEO of Adyen Pieter van der Does.

The Dutch payments platform will now be able to offer its clients “increased operational scalability” and “enhanced services to its merchants”, Adyen said.

The platform aims to simplify and accelerate global cashless payments and focuses on infrastructure that directly connects to card networks and local payments. This allows it to streamline payments while also gathering valuable insights into customer data.

Adyen has also expanded its operations in Japan and the United Arab Emirates in the past few weeks as the demand for cashless payments continues.

Payment gateway software has gained in popularity in the past decade, particularly in e-commerce, as it offers secure transactions and can boost customer satisfaction.

Adyen’s license is the latest example of cross-border activity involving fintechs seeking to open up the payments sector. Last month, Non-profit organization the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) invested $15 million in a Mexican digital payments company, Airtm, to boost cross-border banking access.

So far in 2021, SDF’s Enterprise Fund has invested a total of $24.5 million in global financial technology or blockchain companies, for a combined total of $33.76 million in investments.

Virginia-based Blue Ridge Bank recently partnered with fintech company Aeldra Financial to a launch a new mobile neobank to boost banking access for overseas companies with US cross-border banking needs.