Is Dutch money different?

If you travel frequently, you know that money has gotten a lot easier to spend wherever you travel. Remember travelers checks? Those went the way of the Dodo decades ago with wide adoption of Visa and MasterCard. Even changing money to the local currency is less critical unless you’re traveling to a remote region of a third-world country. Credit cards and Apple Pay have redefined traveling, and most places we travel would prefer US Dollars in tips opposed to the local currency.

Given all this, we didn’t spend much time thinking through the whole issue of money when we planned our move to Amsterdam. It was only in a passing conversation with another expat that we received an inkling of the friction we would face.

The first main difference is that the Dutch do not use credit cards the way we do. In general, the Dutch view on credit is very different. The Dutch are believers in only spending what they make and staying within a budget. As such, they rely much more on debit cards. As crazy as this is for Americans to believe, many stores and services in The Netherlands do not accept credit cards. Instead, they only accept debit cards or cash, and in some cases, only debit cards.

Why is this a problem?

The US debit card system is based on Visa and MasterCard. American credit and debit cards can mostly be used interchangeably. This is not the case in The Netherlands. Dutch debit cards have their own system that connects directly to your Dutch bank… which means you need a Dutch bank account! Setting up a grocery delivery, purchasing items from shops outside the tourist areas, some ride share services… will only work with a Dutch debit card.

So just get a Dutch bank account… right?

Getting a Dutch bank account is far more work than we thought it would be. First, you must obtain a BSN (think: SSN), and register in the municipality you have a residence in. You must have a signed lease to prove residency, and you must present in person at the municipality. Once you have these items, and your passport, you can theoretically get a Dutch bank account. But that’s not reality. Reality is far more comical. I think it’s best to replay my conversation with one of the biggest banks in The Netherlands -

“Hi. I have money. You are a bank. I would like to create an account and put my money in your bank.”

“Great. How’s ten days from now?”

“Oh! I have the money today. I also have my BSN and registration with me.”

“Good for you. I’m sure your mother is very proud of her little man. Will you remember to bring them in ten days?”

“Uh… I was hoping to create an account today. Is there a way I can do that?”

“Creating a new bank account takes 30 minutes. You need an appointment.”

“Good news! I have 30 minutes now.”

“We are not able to work with you now as there are only a few of us working in the bank at this time.”

<Me looking around at a bank with no other customers…>

“I appear to be the only customer here unless those two over there behind the counter are customers.”

“You must call to make an appointment.”

“OK… can I make an appointment now?”

“No. You must call this number or go online to make the appointment. Have a nice day.”

We did basically this same dance with three other banks before we found a smaller bank who would work with us on the spot. So for you future Amsterdam expats… SNS Bank was the only bank who would work with us on the same day.

Unfortunately, creating the account does not translate to walking out of the bank with a Dutch debit card. This requires another two days for the bank to review all your documents and decide you really are a legitimate human, followed by another five working days before you receive your card. We heard from one expat that this process took them about one month. In our case, this will take us about two and a half weeks from landing in Amsterdam, so I think we are doing really well!

Another option we discovered out of desperation is the online-only banks, Wise and Revolut. We’ll cover these in a future blog about this and other expat hacks.