Head to head
Compared side by side on published facts and the same six criteria every review is graded on — generated from the live directory, not a sales page.
Adyen
Payment Processor · 4.4/5 mean
Adyen is a global, enterprise-grade payments platform that unifies acquiring, processing, routing and risk management into a single stack for merchants with international and omnichannel needs.
Read the full review →Fiserv (Carat)
Payment Processor · 2.7/5 mean
Carat from Fiserv is an enterprise-grade global commerce platform that orchestrates omnichannel payments, data intelligence, and customer experience solutions for the world's largest businesses, but hampered by opaque pricing, complex contracting, and a widespread customer service reputation that does not match its technological ambitions.
Read the full review →Adyen holds the higher standing — by grade, then mean category score. The row-by-row picture below is what should actually decide it for your business.
Both graded against the same six criteria. How we grade · Last fact-checked August 19, 2026.
| Criterion | Adyen | Fiserv (Carat) |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | 5.0wins this criterion | 1.0 |
| Feature set | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Ease of use | 4.0wins this criterion |
Straight from each provider's published documentation. Where a number isn't published, we say so rather than estimate.
| Metric | Adyen | Fiserv (Carat) |
|---|---|---|
| Online rate | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Monthly fee | no universal monthly fees | Not disclosed |
| Payout | 1-2 business days (varies by currency, bank, payout model, and cut-off times) | Typically next business day for enterprise clients; varies by contract |
| Contract | None for main merchant contracts. Specific services have specific commitment.s that renew automatically | Multi-year |
| PCI fee | No separate PCI fee | Not disclosed |
| Statement fee | No separate statement fee | Not disclosed |
| Chargeback fee |
From the Fiserv (Carat) review
Adyen delivers a comparable enterprise-grade global platform but with transparent Interchange++ pricing, no early-termination fee, and no fixed term on main merchant contracts — a contrast with Fiserv Carat's opaque rates and multi-year agreements. Carat holds up for organizations that want a modular build covering alternative payment methods like pay-by-bank, BNPL, and online EBT.
Pick Adyen if you want enterprise-grade global acquiring with published interchange-plus pricing and no termination fee
Ideal for
Not recommended for
Ideal for
Not recommended for
The full reviews carry the pricing narratives, contract analysis and everything else behind these numbers — or let the matching funnel score the whole directory against your business.
| 2.0 |
| Customer support | 3.5wins this criterion | 2.0 |
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| Contract terms | 4.0wins this criterion | 2.0 |
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| Industry reputation | 5.0wins this criterion | 4.0 |
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| Regional per-dispute fees (exact amounts depend on contract) |
| Not disclosed |
| Early termination | None. However, termination does not alter your liability under the Agreement, including those for processed payments, related chargebacks, or other liabilities in connection with the agreement. If there are negotiated custom term or commercial commitments in your agreement, you will be responsible for such terms or commitments. | ETFs have been reported at $500 or higher |
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| Last fact-checked | August 19, 2026 | August 19, 2026 |
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