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Debit card payments

Almost everyone in the Netherlands has a debit card - physical or digital - linked to a payment account. With it, you can pay reliably, easily and safely, at the checkout and increasingly online.

With a debit card you can:

  • pay in shops, restaurants and petrol stations, at charging stations and to travel on public transport (via OVpay), for example;
  • withdraw cash from ATMs;
  • paying online, with an updated Debit Mastercard or Visa Debit debit card.

Debit cards are debit cards (also called ATM or bank cards). There are also credit cards but Dutch people pay much less often with these.

Many consumers still use debit cards issued under the V PAY or Maestro card schemes. These debit cards are being replaced by new debit cards issued under the Visa Debit or Debit Mastercard card schemes.

Contactless payment

All modern debit cards allow contactless payments. This can also be done with a digital debit card in a digital ‘wallet’ on a smartphone or smartwatch.

Advantages of contactless payments

  • easy, fast and safe
  • with most smartphones: always with facial recognition or fingerprint;

Security limit

For security reasons, there is a limit on tap-to-pay transactions made without a PIN using a physical card. When consecutive tap-to-pay transactions total €100 or €150 (possible with some banks), you must enter your PIN. This ensures that someone with a lost or stolen debit card can never make tap-to-pay transactions totaling more than €150 without a PIN. The bank usually reimburses the (limited) damage to the rightful cardholder if they have complied with the terms and conditions.

Digital wallets

A digital ‘wallet’ (digital wallet) is an app with digital payment cards on a phone or smartwatch that allows you to make contactless payments at the checkout.

Digital wallets can contain not only payment cards but also other digital cards, such as access cards, transport tickets, payment receipts, proof of identity, etc….

Paying with a digital wallet

  • works almost the same as contactless payment with a physical card;
  • you unlock the wallet on your phone or smartwatch;
  • you hold your phone or smartwatch against the payment terminal;
  • done!

Well-known examples

Apple Pay, Google Pay, Garmin Pay and Samsung Pay are widely used digital wallets for digital payment cards in the Netherlands. Digital wallets are increasingly used for card payments, both in the Netherlands and abroad.