Credit Cards in the Netherlands: What Expats and Foreign Residents Actually Need to Know

The short answer: if you are visiting, a foreign Visa or Mastercard works in the Netherlands wherever the merchant accepts it — choose to pay in euros, never in your home currency. If you are moving there, a Dutch credit card is gated by residence, a Dutch address, a published net income bar (€1,500 a month at ICS, the card company behind ABN AMRO's cards) and, at ABN AMRO, a residence permit that is not temporary. Most cards are registered with the BKR credit register, and Dutch law caps consumer credit at 12% a year in 2026.

The Netherlands is an unusual credit card market for newcomers. The big-bank credit cards are not issued by the bank you walk into: ABN AMRO's own page says it sends your application "to our partner ICS (International Card Services)", which checks it and issues the card. That shapes everything below.

Sources, all read on 25 October 2026: ABN AMRO's credit card page, ICS's application page (in Dutch), BKR's consumer site mijnkredietregistratie.nl, the Dutch government's pages on the maximum credit charge and statutory interest (both in Dutch), and Government.nl on the BSN.

The access ladder

Each step depends on the one before it. A newly arrived resident usually spends the first weeks at the top of this ladder, which is why the account you pay with during that period matters (see the last section).

The BSN comes first

The government describes the citizen service number as "a unique personal number allocated to everyone registered in the Personal Records Database (BRP)", and says "everyone who registers with the BRP is automatically given a BSN." It is the number government bodies, healthcare providers, schools and benefits offices use for you.

The card issuers we read do not list the BSN by name on their eligibility lines. They ask for things that in practice follow registration: a Dutch home address ("een Nederlands woonadres", in ICS's words) and, at ABN AMRO, an existing current account with the bank.

Who can apply at ABN AMRO and ICS

ABN AMRO lists these conditions on its English credit card page:

• 18 or older, and "living in the Netherlands"
• "Do you have a temporary residence permit? Then you cannot apply for a credit card."
• A net monthly income of at least €1,350 — or, in the FAQ on the same page, €1,500 — or "a minimum freely taxable capital in box 3 of €27,500 over the last 2 years"
• Not on unemployment benefits
• An ABN AMRO current account

The page gives two different income figures, so assume the higher one until the bank confirms otherwise. If your income varies — for example on a temporary or flexible contract — ABN AMRO says ICS may ask for recent bank statements.

ICS (for its own Visa World Cards) asks for: age 18 or over, a Dutch residential address, a net monthly income of €1,500, and a (mobile) phone number. It also states that you cannot apply with a negative BKR registration, which "must first be removed", and that "ICS currently only offers credit cards for which an income requirement applies and a BKR check is carried out." Identification is done through the ICS app after you submit the form.

The residence-permit line is the one most likely to catch a newcomer. ABN AMRO publishes it; we did not find the same sentence on ICS's own application page, so ask before applying if your permit is temporary.

What the cards cost and cover

ABN AMRO lists monthly fees rather than an annual fee:

All three include a delivery guarantee, and ABN AMRO says purchases paid in full by card are insured for at least 180 days. ICS's own cards carry the same two features in its wording — "Aankoopverzekering" (purchase insurance, at least 180 days) and "Aflevergarantie" (a delivery guarantee for online orders that never arrive). Cancelling an ICS card takes one month's notice.

BKR: how the Dutch credit register treats a card

BKR is the Dutch credit register, and it works differently from a US-style credit score. Its consumer site explains the rules plainly:

• When you are registered. BKR's credit card answer: you and the card company agree a credit limit, and "if this amount is higher than € 250, you will be registered at BKR." A registration is called positive when a lender reports credit of more than €250 with a term of more than one month on the day it is granted.
• Charge cards are different. "Do you have a charge card? That means you pay the full amount of your expenditures on a monthly basis. It means you do not have standing credit, so you are not registered at BKR." It is registered only "if you run behind on payments."
• What is stored. Name at birth, initials, date of birth and address, plus the type and amount of credit, start date, agreed and actual end dates, and any notifications such as arrears.
• How long it stays. "The end date of your loan will be visible in BKR's register for another five years" after you repay it.
• Who uses it. When you apply for new credit, BKR says lenders "are required to request us to share details of your BKR registration", and that a registration "may affect your loan application, but not necessarily to your disadvantage."

Two practical points follow. BKR records the amount of credit, so an unused card limit is still part of what the next lender sees when it assesses you; if you do not need a high limit, asking for a lower one keeps that figure smaller. And because BKR holds the credit agreements registered by lenders, a history built in another country does not appear in it — the subject of credit history does not cross borders.

The 12% cap on credit interest

The Netherlands caps what consumer credit can cost. The government's page states: "De maximale rente op kredieten is per 1 januari 2026 12%" — the maximum interest on credit is 12% from 1 January 2026. It explains the mechanism: the maximum credit charge is the statutory interest rate plus 8 percentage points, and because the statutory rate fell from 6% to 4% on 1 January 2026, the cap fell automatically from 14% to 12%.

The statutory rate "wordt elk half jaar berekend op basis van de ECB-rente" — it is recalculated every six months from the ECB rate — so the cap moves with it. The government says it applies to all forms of consumer credit, including "flitskredieten", short loans of under three months.

The cap is a ceiling, not a typical rate: a lender may charge less, and the government's own worked example (€120 a year on €1,000 at 12%) shows how quickly a carried balance costs money even at the maximum. If you carry a balance on a Dutch card, the cap limits the damage; it does not make revolving credit cheap.

Paying with a foreign card while you wait

Until the ladder above is climbed, you will be paying with whatever you brought. Three habits keep that cheap:

1. Pay in euros. When a terminal or website offers to charge you in your home currency, decline; dynamic currency conversion is almost always the more expensive option.
2. Know what your home card charges abroad. The 3% your card charges abroad breaks down the layers, and no-foreign-transaction-fee cards covers how to remove one of them.
3. Hold euros if you are paid in another currency. A Wise multi-currency account holds euros alongside your home currency and converts at a disclosed fee — useful while you wait for residency, or if part of your income stays abroad. For a company invoicing across several countries, Airwallex does the same at business level. Neither is a credit card, neither builds a BKR history, and both set their own eligibility by country of residence — check it on their own sites. The trade-offs are in multi-currency account versus travel credit card.

Where this fits

The Netherlands is an EU market, so before any commercial bank says yes or no you have a legal route to a basic payment account; the EU right to a bank account for foreigners explains what it covers. Spain and Germany are the closest comparisons in this series, and why the same card tier is a different card in another country explains why a Dutch-issued Visa or Mastercard carries a different package from its namesake elsewhere.

Related reading: Credit Cards in Spain: What Visitors and Foreign Residents Actually Need to Know · Credit Cards in Germany: What a Kreditkarte Actually Is

This is information, not financial advice. Eligibility criteria, fees and the statutory credit cap change, and approval is decided by the issuer. Confirm current terms with the bank or card company before applying.