Adyen 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app for the Customer Area
By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5
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On Adyen, two-factor authentication isn't optional. Every user of the Customer Area, the dashboard where businesses on Adyen check payments, run reports and manage payouts and team access, must set up what Adyen calls multifactor authentication (MFA), unless the company uses single sign-on (SSO) (Adyen). The methods are an authenticator app or text messages. Text messages work only in the live environment, so in the test Customer Area an authenticator app is the only choice. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the Adyen steps come from Adyen's own documentation, linked below, which we read on October 20, 2026. We haven't tested them on an Adyen account, so a label may differ slightly. Adyen has moved its older help-center answers on MFA into one documentation page, our main source. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Set it up at your first sign-in
When an admin creates your user, Adyen emails you a link to verify your address, create a password and set up MFA (Adyen). The device setup comes at your first login (Adyen):
- Type a name in the Create device name field. Pick one that identifies the phone.
- Adyen shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the Customer Area is open on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo instead. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- To type a key instead, select Switch to manual key. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, fill in Service and type Adyen's key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
- Enter the 6-digit code that Novaz shows.
- Select Add to register the device.
Adyen doesn't say how often its codes change. Scanning the QR code is safer, because it passes those settings to your app; a typed key always gets 30-second codes.
Test and live are set up separately
Adyen has separate test and live Customer Areas, and you register an MFA device in each (Adyen). If you work in both, you'll end up with two Adyen entries in your authenticator. Use the one that matches the Customer Area you're signing in to.
Register a second device as your backup
Adyen's documentation doesn't mention backup or recovery codes. It does allow two registered devices per user, one method on each (Adyen). Novaz keeps its keys on your iPhone unless you turn on iCloud backup or export a backup file, so a second device is a sensible fallback: another phone with an authenticator app or, in live, a number for text messages (see authenticator app vs SMS).
To add one, Adyen's SMS steps go through your user account menu: Profile, then Add authentication under Multifactor authentication, then Switch to SMS authentication (Adyen). Adyen doesn't list separate steps for a second authenticator app.
When Adyen asks for a code
Adyen asks every time you log in to the Customer Area, and its documentation describes no option to remember a device (Adyen). With SSO, you sign in through your company's identity provider, such as Okta or Microsoft AD FS, and its checks apply instead (Adyen).
If Adyen rejects your code
Adyen's documentation has no advice on rejected codes. Check two things:
- The clock. On iPhone, open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off.
- The entry. With separate test and live entries, make sure you're reading the right one.
More causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Changing phones
Adyen's route: open My user, select the delete icon next to the old device under Multifactor authentication, then Delete. At your next login, Adyen asks you to register a device, and you scan the new QR code with the new phone (Adyen). Since two devices are allowed, you can also add the new phone first and delete the old one afterward.
If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore the account on the new iPhone instead; without one, the new phone needs this fresh setup. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
If you registered a second device, sign in with it, then delete the lost device from My user.
Without one, ask a colleague with the Merchant admin role. They can go to Settings > Users, open your User details page and delete your device under Multifactor authentication. At your next login, you register a new one (Adyen).
Adyen's documentation doesn't describe self-service recovery, what proof it asks for, or how long a reset takes. Its contact page says paying customers log in to reach support (Adyen), and nothing covers the case where nobody at your company can sign in. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
Removing a method
MFA can't be switched off, but you can delete a method: in your user account menu, select Profile, then the delete icon next to it under Multifactor authentication, then Delete (Adyen). If it was your only device, Adyen asks for a new one at your next login. Remove the Novaz entry (open it and tap Remove account) only after the device is gone from Adyen.
