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More travelers very satisfied about traveling with payment card

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The share of public transit passengers in the Netherlands who traveled with a payment card rose from 40% in 2024 to 50% in 2025. For 66% of these passengers, their payment card was their most frequently used ticket; a year earlier, that figure was 58%. Those who checked in and out of public transit last year using a debit or credit card gave it an average rating of 8.2 on a scale of 10, slightly higher than the 8.1 in 2024; 95% gave a rating of 7 or higher. These findings come from the second satisfaction survey on traveling in the Netherlands with a debit or credit card (in Dutch), commissioned by OVpay and the Dutch Payments Association.

Reiziger checkt contactloos in met smartphone bij toegangspoortjes op een modern, licht treinstation.

In particular, travelers who use Dutch public transport infrequently and relatively little prefer to use a payment card to check in and out. Those who travel regularly and frequently with public transport are more likely to use a public transit card (OV-chipkaart).

High ratings for travel with both
payment cards and public transit cards

The average rating for traveling with a public transit card is 8.4, slightly higher than for traveling with a payment card; 96% of transit card users give a rating of 7 or higher.

Those who primarily travel with a digital payment card on their smartphone or smartwatch, give it an average rating of 8.5. Travelers who primarily use a physical debit or credit card give it an average rating of 8.4. Frequent travelers who primarily use a public transit card rate it at 8.7 on average.

Linking travel discounts

An increasing number of public transit operators allow travelers to link various travel discounts to a payment card. However, this feature is still rarely used, as many travelers are not yet aware that this is possible.

Better public information about
OVpay app and OVpay website

Dutch public transit operators and banks have set a goal for passengers to rate traveling with a debit or credit card at an average of 8.5. Two areas for improvement identified in the survey are easier and faster insight into how travel costs are calculated and greater use of the OVpay app and OVpay website.

Fewer than one in five passengers who traveled using a debit or credit card in 2025 used the OVpay app or website. The features of the OVpay app and website clearly need to be better promoted, as they provide precisely that insight into how travel costs are calculated and about forgotten check-ins or check-outs.

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