Italian credit card not accepted in the Netherlands?
I spent a couple of weeks in the Netherlands recently, and I was surprised that my Italian bank-issued MasterCard credit card was not accepted in a lot of venues. It was almost a 50%-50% chance of being accepted by the POS terminal. This is a chip & pin card with an RFID tag too, and when it worked it also worked by simply touching it on the POS, so I assume it's up to technical standards.
On the other hand the Maestro debit/ATM card issued by the same bank worked effortlessly everywhere (it did not have an RFID tag so I always had to insert it and type the PIN code).
Now, I'm a bit amazed. It's almost 2018, some years ago the EU went through the SEPA harmonization process. The EU payment service directive 1.0 has been in place for several years, and I would assume that credit card liability rules between merchants, banks and customers would be the same all over the EU, and there was reciprocal acceptance.
Instead, it looks like merchants (or banks too?) can "discriminate" credit cards by national origin.
Is this all regular?
Best Answer
Many places in the Netherlands only accept debit cards as they usually incur lower merchant fees than credit cards. Using credit cards isn't as popular in the Netherlands as it is in other countries.
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Which credit cards are accepted in the Netherlands?
Major credit cards and debit cards, such as Visa, MasterCard and American Express are widely accepted in the Netherlands at restaurants, hotels, and tourist destinations. Although some small shops may charge a fee of anywhere from 2-6% if you use them.Why does Netherlands not accept Mastercard?
Dutch people typically don't like credit cards in general because the Dutch are very debt-adverse people. In fact, in Dutch, the word for debt \u2014 schuld \u2014 also has another meaning: guilt.Why is my credit card being declined for international transactions?
Foreign Currency Transactions: For a person who has always made purchases in rupees using a credit card, his/her transaction may get declined when he/she tries to buy a service or product in a foreign currency. This is due to varying nature of your buying pattern that your credit issuing bank notices.Does Dutch accept credit cards?
Mastercard and Visa are the most widely accepted credit cards in the Dutch retail space; American Express tends to be accepted only by major retailers who have an international client base.The Dutch are Allergic to Credit Cards
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Answer 2
Dutch person here. I can confirm that creditcards are rarely accepted. Mostly because of the fees for businesses en we use our debit cards the most (Maestro). This is called "PIN" and is very easy to accept and lower fees.
Some places still need cash but i can not even remember when i had to withdraw some cash from an ATM :-)
Big department stores (like C&A or De Bijenkorf) or tourist areas in/around Amsterdam will accept creditcards (Visa and MasterCard, sometime AMEX). If you want some more info, let me know!
Answer 3
I doubt that this is national discrimination. More likely, it's some sort of glitch with your card. Perhaps there is an issue with the "chip" on it.
I'd suggest calling your credit card issuer, explaining your problem, and asking if replacing the card might make sense, or if they're aware of any other difficulty that could be causing you problems.
If it's larger charges that don't work, and smaller ones that do, perhaps it's an issue of the charges being declined because of your traveling. Ensuring your issuer is aware of your travel will maximize the chances of the charges succeeding, and reduce any suspicion that your card is being used fraudulently by someone else.
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