Banking in Amsterdam: iDEAL, Tikkie and cards

Your Australian Visa card works at the airport. Then it meets an Albert Heijn checkout. Get a Dutch account in your first fortnight.

The short version

The Dutch pay by debit card and bank-linked apps. Credit cards are much less welcome than at home, and shops decide for themselves whether to take them [3].
You can open an account at ING, ABN AMRO or bunq before you have a BSN, but you'll usually need to supply the BSN within 90 days or the account gets blocked [1][2].
iDEAL, the Dutch online bank payment, is turning into Wero. Co-branding started in 2026, and ABN AMRO expects all online payments to run through Wero by the end of 2027 [4][5].
Tikkie payment requests are how Amsterdam splits a dinner bill. Expect to send and receive them [6].
A basic account package at the big banks costs roughly €4 to €7 a month in 2026 [7][8].

Why your Australian card struggles here

Australians are used to tapping a Visa or Mastercard credit card anywhere for anything. The Netherlands built its payments around debit cards instead, for years on the Maestro and V PAY networks.

That's changing. Maestro-branded debit cards stopped being issued from 1 July 2023, and Dutch banks have been swapping them for Visa Debit and Debit Mastercard cards [3]. But the shop side has lagged. Card acceptance is up to the owner, and because credit card transactions cost merchants more, plenty of places decline them [3]. Some terminals have also treated foreign debit cards as credit cards. Reader reports from 2023 to 2026 include Albert Heijn branches still refusing foreign cards [3].

What that means for you:

Tourist areas, hotels and big chains are more likely to take your Australian card [3].
Supermarkets, market stalls, bakeries and small cafés are where it's most likely to fail.
Webshops may offer only iDEAL, which needs a Dutch (or participating) bank account [3].
Cash still works in most places, but carrying a stack of euros isn't how locals live.

Keep your Australian card for travel and as a back-up. Don't make it your main way to pay.

Opening an account: with or without a BSN

The old catch-22 was that you needed a BSN to open an account and an address to get a BSN, and you needed money moving to rent anything. Banks have loosened up.

Bank	Type	Open before BSN?	What's noted
ING	Big Dutch bank	Yes, via the app with passport or residence permit [2]	BSN needed within 90 days [2]
ABN AMRO	Big Dutch bank (owns Tikkie)	Yes, via its expat onboarding in the app [1][2]	Valid ID, Dutch address and your home-country tax number; BSN within 90 days [1]
Rabobank	Big Dutch bank	Not covered in our sources	Check directly
bunq	Dutch digital bank	Can open from abroad, before moving [2]	English support
N26, Openbank and other EU neobanks	Digital banks based elsewhere in the EU	Yes [2]	Foreign IBAN, which some Dutch providers may not accept [2]

ABN AMRO's app onboarding was reported to take about 10 minutes, with the IBAN available straight away and the card arriving within a few days [1].

Your Australian tax number

ABN AMRO asks for a tax or fiscal identification number from your home country [1]. For Australians that's your TFN. Banks ask because tax authorities exchange account information internationally, so don't be alarmed by the question.

Dutch IBAN or foreign IBAN?

A neobank based in another EU country gives you an IBAN starting with something other than NL. That works for most things, but the Holland Times notes that some Dutch health insurers and phone companies may want a Dutch IBAN [2]. If you plan to pay rent, health insurance and utilities from one account, an NL IBAN is the low-hassle choice.

Steps to get banking in your first month

Open an account before you arrive, or in your first week. Use ING, ABN AMRO or bunq, all of which can open without a BSN [1][2].
Register with the municipality as soon as you have an address, and get your BSN. Our guide to registering in Amsterdam covers it.
Add your BSN to the bank well within 90 days so the account isn't blocked [1][2].
Give the IBAN to your employer so your first salary lands in euros.
Install Tikkie and link it to your account.
Set up direct debits (automatische incasso) for health insurance, energy, your phone and municipal taxes.
Move a buffer of euros from Australia to cover the deposit and first month's rent.

iDEAL, now Wero

If you buy anything online in the Netherlands, from a train ticket to a pair of shoes, you'll meet iDEAL. You pick your bank, approve the payment in your banking app, and you're done. It's the default checkout, and some webshops accept nothing else [3].

iDEAL is being folded into Wero, a European payment system run by a group of European banks:

Early 2026: the iDEAL logo started being replaced by a combined iDEAL | Wero logo in webshops and banking apps. The bank choice and approval steps stay the same [4].
Behind the scenes: transactions move to the Wero platform step by step, subject to approval by De Nederlandsche Bank [4].
April 2027: ABN AMRO expects new options such as subscriptions and payment on delivery [5].
End of 2027: ABN AMRO expects all online payments to run through Wero [5].
Purchase protection: ABN AMRO says Wero's purchase protection will start in January 2028 [5].

You don't need to do anything to switch [5]. Do watch for phishing: "your iDEAL is changing, click here" messages are an obvious lure, and ABN AMRO warns about them [5].

Tikkie: the Dutch way to split a bill

In Australia, splitting a dinner bill means one person pays and the others transfer later, or everyone taps their own card. In Amsterdam, someone pays and then sends a Tikkie.

A Tikkie is a payment request link from ABN AMRO's app. The person who paid sends it through WhatsApp, SMS or any other channel, and you pay it through iDEAL from your own Dutch bank account, without needing the app yourself [6]. ABN AMRO says Tikkie has around 10 million users [6].

The unwritten rules:

It's not rude to send one, even for a €3.50 coffee. Going Dutch is literal here.
Pay it quickly. A Tikkie that sits unpaid for a week gets noticed.
You need a Dutch-linked account to pay easily, which is another reason not to rely on your Australian card.

Businesses use a separate Tikkie product with a monthly subscription, so a Tikkie from your landlord or a sports club is normal too [6].

What a Dutch account costs

Dutch current accounts usually come as a monthly package (betaalpakket). Prices rose on 1 January 2026 [7]:

Bank	Package	Monthly fee (2026)
ABN AMRO	Basic package	€4.30 [7]
ING	ING Go (previously OranjePakket)	€4.00 [7][8]
ING	ING More (previously OranjePakket Extra)	€7.00 [7][8]
ING	ING Extra (new from June 2026)	€15.99 [8]

ING's pricier tiers bundle things such as a credit card without an exchange-rate markup and extra savings interest [8]. Most Australians on a salary will be fine with a basic package. Student accounts for 18 to 25-year-olds are often cheaper or free [2].

Do you need a Dutch credit card?

Rarely. A credit card is handy for car hire, some airlines and hotels. ING charges a monthly fee for its credit card, €2 from 2026 [7]. Plenty of Australians keep an Australian credit card for those jobs instead.

Moving money between AUD and EUR

You'll likely be moving money both ways: a lump of savings to cover the deposit and first rent, and later money home for a mortgage, HECS-HELP or visits.

Compare the exchange rate, not just the fee. A "no fee" transfer with a poor rate can cost more than a small fee at a good rate.
Specialist transfer services often beat the big banks on the AUD to EUR margin. Check the total in euros that will arrive.
Keep your Australian account open for anything still paid in Australia. Tell your Australian bank you're now a foreign resident for tax, as the treatment of interest changes.
Your Dutch salary is in euros. If you're paying off Australian debts, a currency swing can work for or against you, so don't commit to tight AUD repayments based on one month's rate.

Our living-abroad guides go deeper on sending money home and on keeping Australian accounts while you're abroad.

Want to know which bank other Aussies picked? Ask in Cooee Netherlands, our Facebook group for Australians in the Netherlands. Members compare app quirks, card acceptance and which transfer services they use.

Banking in Amsterdam: iDEAL, Tikkie and the card that won't work