Yes, I know the title is clickbait but keep reading because here is a way to save money that you may not have known about.
What would you think if I told you that there was a place that pays up to 6% interest on your money and it’s not a bank?
What would you think if I told you that this place is a supermarket? In the supermarket there is a way to achieve that interest with something called “Koopzegels”.
What are “Koopzegels”?
Koopzegels are “stamps” that you can buy at the supermarket, it’s something like a loyalty program, I still remember that before it was very common that the cashiers would ask you if you wanted koopzegels, as I didn’t understand Dutch once I said yes and the cashier gave me some stamps and I wondered what they were for. In the end I returned them and never paid any more attention to them…until recently.Koopzegels are “stamps” that you can buy at the supermarket, it’s something like a loyalty program, I still remember that before it was very common that the cashiers would ask you if you wanted koopzegels, as I didn’t understand Dutch once I said yes and the cashier gave me some stamps and I wondered what they were for. In the end I returned them and never paid any more attention to them…until recently.
Not all supermarkets offer koopzegels, currently Albert Heijn, Jumbo, Coop, Plus and Vomar Voordeelmarkt have this program.
How does it work?
For every euro you spend in the supermarket (in the case of Coop every 50 cents and Voomar every 10 cents) you can buy a koopzegel, the value of the koopzegel depends on each supermarket but it costs maximum 10 cents. You stick the koopzegels in a book, or collect them digitally, the supermarket apps allow this even when you do your shopping online. When you fill the book the supermarket gives you money for that book, kind of like collecting a stamp album. You have to ask for them when you pay at the checkout.
In the end the supermarket gives you back more money than you paid for the koopzegels and you get a return.
In the case of Vomar for every euro you can buy 10 cents in points that are stored on their Klant is Koning card, the stored points can be withdrawn whenever you wish and at that time Vomar pays you a 6% bonus on the stored money either in cash or in your bank account.
Here is a table with the yields of the koopzegels
| Supermercado | Puedes comprar un zegel por cada | Precio por zegel | Zegels para completar el libro | Cuanto inviertes | Cuanto te paga el supermercado | Rendimiento |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Heijn | € 1 | € 0,1 | 490 | € 49 | € 52 | 6% |
| Jumbo | € 1 | € 0,1 | 250 | € 25 | € 26 | 4% |
| Coop | € 0,5 | € 0,05 | 500 | € 25 | € 26 | 4% |
| Plus | € 1 | € 0,02 | 200 | € 4 | € 6 | 50% |
| Vomaar | € 1 | € 0.1 | No aplica | € 10 | € 10.06 | 6% |
As you can see koopzegels are an interesting way to save without realizing it and offer a much more attractive return than the bank.
