Netherlands-based payments platform Adyen has rolled out its payment infrastructure across 943 Starbucks stores in the UK, Austria, and Switzerland, supported by 2,375 payment terminals. The multi-market deployment builds on an existing relationship between Adyen and Alsea, the Starbucks licensee for which Adyen already processes payments in Mexico.
The partnership positions Adyen as a central component of Starbucks’ European payment strategy, consolidating what had previously been a fragmented infrastructure into a single platform. For a quick-service operation of Starbucks’ scale, where transaction speed and uptime are directly tied to revenue, the shift to a unified system carries operational significance.
Rollout timeline and scale
The migration to Adyen’s platform was completed across 900 stores in seven weeks, with a peak deployment rate of 125 stores going live in a single week. The rollout took place during standard working hours to minimise disruption to store operations. Adyen has since processed more than 20 million cup sales across the three markets.
The deployment also extends to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Italy, the brand’s flagship location in the country. According to the companies, the partnership began with initial pilots before expanding into a broader strategic role within Starbucks’ European payments setup.
Offline payment capability addresses connectivity risk
A notable element of the partnership is the implementation of Adyen’s Store and Forward functionality, which allows terminals to continue accepting payments during network outages. Since August 2025, the feature has safeguarded more than 45,000 transactions across the three markets that would otherwise have failed due to WiFi connectivity issues.
For high-volume, quick-service environments, offline reliability is a material concern. Network downtime during peak hours translates directly into lost revenue and customer friction. The Store and Forward feature queues transactions locally and processes them once connectivity is restored, maintaining uninterrupted service at the point of sale.
The deployment reflects a broader trend among large-scale retail and hospitality operators seeking to consolidate payment processing onto unified platforms. By standardising its infrastructure across multiple European markets, Starbucks gains consistency in reporting, terminal management, and the customer-facing checkout experience, while reducing the complexity of managing multiple payment providers across jurisdictions.
