Configuration API
Configuration API
Adyen Balance Platform API is the core of "Adyen for Platforms" — manage balance accounts, payment splits, and KYC across multiple merchants on a marketplace/SaaS platform.
Adyen holds its own banking licenses (EU/NA) — no third-party dependency
Requires Adyen contract + platform-business due diligence
Engage Adyen sales to sign a Balance Platform contract. POST /accountHolders to create account holders; POST /balanceAccounts for balance accounts.
Uptime · 30-day window
About this API
Balance Platform is Adyen's main product for marketplace/platform economy use cases, competing with Stripe Connect. It addresses the complex "platform collects → splits to multiple parties → ensures compliance" flow. Core abstractions: accountHolder (each merchant/driver/seller) and balanceAccount (currency-bearing balance, multi-currency). A buyer payment can instant-split into multiple balanceAccounts; Adyen handles KYC/KYB (merchant identity verification), reserves (regulatory holds), and payouts (scheduled disbursement to external banks). The key differentiator vs. Stripe Connect: Adyen holds banking licenses in EU and NA — no intermediate bank, so latency is low and rules are controllable. Uber, Etsy, eBay use Adyen Balance Platform.
What you can build
- 1Marketplace seller payouts (Taobao/Etsy model)
- 2SaaS platform escrow for customers
- 3Ride-hail driver settlement
- 4Instant split (one buyer payment to multiple recipients)
Strengths & limitations
Strengths
- Adyen holds its own banking licenses (EU/NA) — no third-party dependency
- Built-in KYC/KYB workflows
- Multi-currency balance accounts
Limitations
- Requires Adyen contract + platform-business due diligence
- Not suitable for single-merchant scenarios — use regular Payments API instead
Example request
curl https://www.adyen.help/hc/en-us/community/topics/<endpoint>Getting started
Engage Adyen sales to sign a Balance Platform contract. POST /accountHolders to create account holders; POST /balanceAccounts for balance accounts.
FAQ
How does Balance Platform compare to Stripe Connect?+
Stripe Connect is easier to onboard; Adyen Balance Platform wins on EU compliance and high-volume scenarios (in-house banking licenses).
Can it settle to sellers in China?+
Adyen does not yet hold a local mainland-China banking license; cross-border payouts work, but onshore entities are not supported.
Technical details
- Auth type
- unknown
- Pricing
- unknown
- Protocols
- REST
- SDKs
- java, python, javascript, php
- Response time
- 944 ms
- Last health check
- 5/12/2026, 7:36:31 AM
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