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If you are living and working in the Netherlands you will almost certainly need to open a bank account in order to receive your salary, rent or buy property or open a utilities or telephone account, for example.

The main commercial banks offering personal banking facilities in the Netherlands include ABN-AMRO, ING, Rabobank and Postbank. ING has now taken over the previously publicly-owned Postbank, but Postbank branches can still be found in the Post offices.

In general, all the major banks offer a similar range of current account banking services, including current accounts (betaalrekening), savings accounts (spaarrakening), overdraft facilities and bill payments. If you open an account with the Postbank, this will either take the form of an income giro account (inkomstengirorekening) if your monthly income exceeds €500, or a basic giro account (basigirorekening) if your monthly income is less than this.

There is little variation between bank charges, although some of these are slightly lower in the case of the Postbank compared with the other commercial banks. No interest is normally payable on current accounts, but interest is usually charged on these accounts if they are overdrawn. Printed bank statements can be issued every week, fortnight or month, depending on the account holder's own preference.

All of the main banks now also offer internet and mobile banking facilities. Internet banking is very popular in the Netherlands, where it is reported that more than 40% of the population do their banking online. Some banks offer accounts that can only be accessed using the internet banking, and pay a relatively high rate of interest on credit balances, in return for the lower bank overheads associated with the account. The main banks also provide facilities for accessing accounts electronically via mobile phones. As well as checking account balances and making payments, customers can manage their investments and buy shares using their internet or mobile banking facility.

In order to open a bank account in the Netherlands you will usually be asked to provide your passport or another form of identify, proof of address such as a utility bill, and your Social-Fiscal Identification Number (sofi-number). You may also be asked for evidence of your income, such as an employment contract or salary slips; your residence permit or proof of application for this, and if you are a non-EU national, a record of registration with the foreign police. It is likely that the bank will run a credit check using the Bureau Kredietregistratie (BKR), the Netherlands' credit bureau, before approving the application for an account, and will register new customers on this system if they not already have a credit record in the Netherlands.

A new bank account is usually operational straight away, with a bank card and pin number being issued within days of opening the account. If required, the banks will also issue Eurocheques, or postcheques (girobetaalkaarten) in the case of the Postbank to their account holders. However, cheques are used infrequently in the Netherlands now that bank card payments have increased in popularity. Eurocheques can be cashed into other currencies at the banks in other European countries.

Normal bank opening hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday, with some staying open later on Thursday or Friday evenings. Some banks are also open on Saturday mornings.

Useful contacts:

BKR
Stichting Bureau Krediet Registratie
Postbus 6080
4000 HB Tiel
Tel.: 0900 - 257 84 35
Fax: 0344 - 63 49 73
Website: http://www.bkr.nl/

Major bank websites:

Postbank
http://www.postbank.nl/

ING Bank
http://www.ing.nl/

ABN-AMRO
http://www.abnamro.com/

Fortis Bank
http://www.fortis.com/

Rabobank
http://www.rabobank.nl/

SNS Bank
http://www.snsbank.nl/

Bank cards and credit cards

A few days after opening a bank or post office account, you will be normally be issued with a bank card (bankpas/europas/giropas) and pin number. When ready, the bank card can be collected from the bank but the pin number is sent separately by post to the account holder for security reasons.

The card and accompanying pin number can be used to make cash withdrawals from ATMs (geldautomaten/pinautomaten) in the Netherlands and other countries. There is a fully integrated ATM network in the Netherlands, which allows bank cards issued in one bank to be used to withdraw money from the ATMs of other banks, but you will need to check the symbols on the ATM against those on your card to be sure that the card is valid for use in that particular ATM. Many bank cards issued in the Netherlands can also be used to draw out cash from ATMs in other countries, if your card and the ATM display the relevant Maestro or Cirrus symbol. There is likely to be a fee payable per transactions for withdrawals of cash in other countries.

Most bank cards also act as debit cards for use when paying for items in shops. There is usually a requirement to key the pin number into a card reader to authorise the immediate debit of the relevant amount from the person's account.

In the case of the Postbank, account holders can be issued either with a basic card (basis giropas) which allows them to withdraw cash from Postbank and ING bank ATMs only, and a "normal" card (gewone giropas) which can be used to withdraw money from the ATMs of other banks in the Netherlands and in other countries. Both can also be used as a debit card for use when buying items in stores.

Small purchases in Holland are often made using another type of bankcard, the chipknip or chippas, although some banks incorporate the chip facility of this card into a single bankcard. In order to use the chipknip functions, you need to keep your card topped up with cash, which can be transferred directly from your bank account at a special machine at the bank. When using this card in stores, there is no requirement to key in a pin number, so the card offers less security than a standard bank card - anyone can use the card until the credit on it is used up.

The main credit cards in use in the Netherlands are Mastercard and Visa. There is often a requirement to have held a bank account for some time in the Netherlands, and to have a sufficiently income in order for a credit card application to be approved. There is usually an annual fee and sometimes additional monthly fees for a credit card account, as well as the interest that is payable on outstanding balances. Many smaller stores do not accept credit cards, as they have to pay a percentage of each transaction to the credit card company. However, most large stores, restaurants and hotels accept most major credit cards.

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