Opening a bank account

HR Services will provide you with the necessary information for opening a Dutch bank account. All TU Delft employees are required to have a Dutch bank account. Most Dutch banks will only allow someone who has been assigned a BSN (‘citizen service number’) and is registered in a municipality to open an account, so those things should be arranged first.

After you have been to The Hague International Centre and have been assigned a BSN, you can go to a bank of your choice and ask to open an account. Banks in the Netherlands are required to confirm the identity of anyone opening an account. You will have to show your passport and the bank will also request additional information, for example, about where you live and about other members of your family whom you might want to grant access to your account.

If you will be maintaining financial and administrative contacts with a foreign country, you might prefer to open an account with one of the larger Dutch banks, such as ABN AMRO, ING and Rabobank. They have extensive and efficient links with foreign branches and foreign banks that would make your foreign transactions easier to arrange.

Credit cards are widely used in the Netherlands but most transactions are done with debit cards, even in open-air markets. Your bank will automatically issue you a debit card; you will have to request a credit card. Some merchants do not accept cash and some do not accept credit cards. Some open-air market vendors will only accept cash. Cash can be obtained from cash dispensers, which are widely available.