Banks in the Netherlands – accounts and costs

If you have just arrived in the Netherlands, you will need to open an account with one of the local banks. Although Visa and Mastercard credit cards are not widely accepted here, it is easy to open a bank account in Holland in a few minutes. However, you will need your BSN number to do so.

The four largest and best-known banks in the Netherlands are Rabobank, ABN AMRO, ING and SNS Bank, with the largest market share. If you want to find out which of them offers the cheapest bank account in the Netherlands, read on to the end of this article.

You can open a debit or savings account, apply for a loan or a mortgage with any of these banks. In my experience, there is not much difference between them. I have had accounts at ABN AMRO, Rabobank and SNS Bank, and the only noticeable difference is the amount of information in English that each bank offers. Although there are other banks in the Netherlands, these four have the most branches, which can be useful if you need to visit one.

Rabobank

Rabobank started out as a small bank lending to farmers and is now one of the largest banks in the Netherlands. They are a cooperative, which means they have members instead of shareholders.

How much does a Rabobank account cost? (Rabo DirectPakket)

To open an account you can visit the following link

ABN Amro

This bank is partly state-owned and is listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange, so you can even become a shareholder if you want to. It is probably the bank with the most information in English.

How much does an ABN Amro account cost? (Basis payment package)

*If you withdraw more than 17,500 eur per year they will charge an additional fee.

To open an account you can click the banner below, with this you help the blog and future articles.

ING

ING is the largest bank in the Netherlands in terms of the amount of funds it holds. It is also listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange. At the date of this post in September 2022 it has the cheapest bank account in the Netherlands. It is the ideal account if you don’t withdraw almost any cash and don’t make any deposits.

How much does an ING account cost?(OranjePakket met korting)

*You have to change your account from a normal account to a discounted account within the ING app.

If you want to see how to open an account with ING step by step click on this link.

SNS Bank

They have no information in english. They are part of a larger company called Volksbank, ASN bank and RegioBank also belong to the same group. If you look for a sustainable bank this is probably the way to go as they score higher in sustainability than all the other banks mentioned in this post.

How much does an account at SNS bank cost (SNS Basis)?

If you want to open an account with SNS bank you can click on this link.

The cheapest bank account in the Netherlands

The cheapest bank account (not including student accounts) is ING, it costs only €2.70 per month, it has limitations regarding withdrawals and cash deposits but if you don’t do it constantly then it could be the most convenient account. They have a lot of information in English and it is a big bank, being a regulated bank all your savings are protected up to 100 thousand euros (as explained in the post about banks in Holland and interest rates).