How people pay in the Benelux in 2026
Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg share the euro and a taste for local schemes, but each market has its own habits. In the Netherlands, debit cards and phones rule the till: cash fell to 17% of point-of-sale payments in 2025, while 39% were made with a phone or smartwatch. Online, iDEAL is the default, with 1.47 billion payments worth €141 billion in 2024. In Belgium, Bancontact is the national brand for card, mobile and online payments, with more than 2.5 billion payments a year. Luxembourg is the most cash-friendly of the three, with cash at 37% of point-of-sale payments in the ECB's 2024 survey.
2026 is a year of change. iDEAL is turning into iDEAL | Wero, and the Dutch market aims to finish the move to Wero by December 31, 2027. Wero went live for e-commerce in Belgium in March 2026, Payconiq by Bancontact became Bancontact Pay, and the Payconiq app in Luxembourg closed on September 30, 2026. Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit have replaced Maestro and V PAY, and Dutch BNPL providers come under AFM supervision on November 20, 2026. For PSPs and merchants, a Benelux checkout now needs iDEAL | Wero, Bancontact, Wero and debit cards.
- 7.1 billion point-of-sale payments in the Netherlands in 2025 (De Nederlandsche Bank)
- 72% of Dutch online purchases paid with iDEAL in Q1 2026 (Thuiswinkel Markt Monitor)
- 2.5 billion+ Bancontact payments a year in Belgium, 2025 (Bancontact Company)
- 56 million Wero users in Europe in July 2026 (EPI)
Payment by card in the Benelux
Cards are the main way to pay in stores across the Benelux, mostly debit cards linked to a current account. In the Netherlands, cards covered 83% of point-of-sale payments in 2025, and only 4% were still made by inserting the card into the terminal. Dutch debit (pin) payments reached 5.77 billion in 2024, and 94% of them were contactless. Dutch banks have replaced Maestro and V PAY with Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit, a switch coordinated by the Dutch Payments Association, so the same cards now work online too.
Belgium keeps its own domestic scheme. Bancontact counts nearly 18 million cards and 1.9 billion in-store card payments in 2025, 1.4 billion of them contactless. New Belgian debit cards carry Visa Debit or Debit Mastercard next to Bancontact, and when both brands are accepted, the payment runs on Bancontact. Luxembourg relies on international debit and credit cards, which made up 49% of point-of-sale payments in 2024. Card fees across the region follow the EU interchange fee caps.
Card schemes in the Benelux
Bancontact
Domestic debit scheme
Belgium's national debit scheme, on almost every Belgian bank card, used in stores and online through a card reader or the Bancontact Pay app; cards are now co-badged with Visa Debit or Debit Mastercard.
1.9 billion in-store Bancontact card payments in 2025, 1.4 billion contactless, Bancontact Company
Debit Mastercard
International debit
The successor to Maestro on Dutch and Belgian bank cards, accepted at terminals and online wherever Mastercard is accepted, as explained by Worldline.
Visa Debit
International debit
Visa's debit card, which replaced V PAY at Dutch and Belgian banks; in Belgium most new Visa Debit cards are co-branded with Bancontact.
Contactless debit cards
Debit card
Tapping a debit card or a phone is the standard way to pay at Dutch and Belgian tills, and the old insert-and-PIN routine is fading.
94% of Dutch debit card payments were contactless in 2024, Betaalvereniging Nederland via Banken.nl
Credit cards
Credit card
Visa, Mastercard and American Express credit cards are common for travel, cross-border shopping and higher-value purchases, but play a smaller role in domestic e-commerce.
8% of Dutch online purchases paid by credit card in Q1 2026, Thuiswinkel Markt Monitor
Payment by cash in the Benelux
Cash is in steady decline in the Netherlands, where it accounted for 17% of point-of-sale payments in 2025, down 2 points in a year. Acceptance holds up: a DNB field study found that 96% of points of sale accepted cash in 2025, and 78% of businesses ask customers to pay cash when card payments fail. Older consumers are moving to cards too, with people aged 75 and over using the debit card for 74% of their payments.
Belgium and Luxembourg use more cash. In the ECB's 2024 SPACE study, cards covered 53% of point-of-sale payments in Belgium, against 56% in the Netherlands, while cash still accounted for 52% across the euro area. In Luxembourg, cash made up 37% of point-of-sale payments in 2024, and residents carry a median €82 in their wallets, among the highest in the euro area. Online, cash on delivery is marginal, and prepaid vouchers serve gaming and digital goods.
Cash payment methods in the Benelux
Cash
Banknotes and coins
Euro banknotes and coins remain legal tender in all three countries and are still widely accepted in shops, markets and hospitality.
17% of point-of-sale payments in the Netherlands were in cash in 2025, De Nederlandsche Bank
Cash on delivery
Cash on delivery
Paying the courier on delivery is a niche option in the Benelux, where online shoppers have iDEAL, Bancontact and pay-after-delivery invoices.
Paysafecard
Cash voucher
Prepaid PIN vouchers bought with cash in shops and used for gaming and digital goods, offered by Dutch gateways such as PAY..
Payment by bank transfer in the Benelux
Bank-based payments lead Dutch e-commerce. iDEAL, the redirect method built into Dutch banking apps, handled 1.47 billion payments worth €141 billion in 2024, up 10% in volume, and it paid for 72% of Dutch online purchases in Q1 2026. iDEAL is becoming iDEAL | Wero: the co-branding started in early 2026, all Dutch banks are connected to Wero by October 2026, and transactions then move gradually to Wero's infrastructure, with the migration due to end by December 31, 2027. The iDEAL in3 installment option was wound down in 2025.
In Belgium, Wero for e-commerce went live in March 2026 at ING, KBC and BNP Paribas Fortis, next to Bancontact. Underneath, SEPA rails do the work. Dutch banks have offered instant payments since 2019, and since October 2025 the EU Instant Payments Regulation requires instant transfers at the same price as regular ones, with Verification of Payee on every transfer. Our article on Europe's instant payments moment explains what this means for merchants.
Bank transfer methods in the Benelux
iDEAL | Wero
Pay by bank
The Dutch online payment method that sends shoppers to their banking app to approve a transfer, now co-branded with Wero and migrating to Wero's infrastructure through 2027.
1.47 billion iDEAL payments worth €141 billion in 2024, Betaalvereniging Nederland
SEPA Instant Credit Transfer
Instant payment
Euro transfers that arrive in seconds, 24/7; at banks such as KBC they are now the default for transfers, free of extra charge.
SEPA Direct Debit
Direct debit
Account debits authorized by a mandate (machtiging or domiciliëring), used for subscriptions, utilities and some online purchases.
5% of Dutch online purchases paid by direct debit in Q1 2026, Thuiswinkel Markt Monitor
Belgian bank buttons
Pay by bank
Online payment buttons from Belgian banks such as KBC/CBC and Belfius that redirect shoppers to their bank; the KBC/CBC Payment Button also lets customers pay up to two months later for orders between €50 and €1,250.
Payment by installment and BNPL in the Benelux
Paying after delivery, achteraf betalen, is a Dutch habit. The four providers tracked by the AFM, Billink, in3, Klarna and Riverty, processed about 53 million transactions worth €5.1 billion in 2024, up 17% in volume, with an average ticket of €96.60. Their user counts add up to about 5.5 million, and the big marketplaces Amazon, Bol and Zalando run their own pay-later options. Klarna alone covered 4% of Dutch online purchases in Q1 2026.
Regulation is tightening. Under the revised EU Consumer Credit Directive, buy now, pay later providers in the Netherlands come under AFM supervision from November 20, 2026, including large e-commerce platforms that keep offering pay later. Tinka has left the market, and in3 lost its slot inside iDEAL in 2025. In Belgium and Luxembourg, BNPL plays a smaller role and Bancontact or Wero remain the default at checkout.
Installment and BNPL providers in the Benelux
Riverty
BNPL
The provider formerly known as AfterPay, offering pay-after-delivery invoices and interest-free Pay in 3 installments at Dutch webshops, and listed by gateways such as PAY..
Klarna
BNPL
The Swedish BNPL provider, used in the Netherlands for pay later and installments at a wide range of webshops.
4% of Dutch online purchases paid with Klarna in Q1 2026, Thuiswinkel Markt Monitor
in3
Installments
Dutch fintech that splits a purchase into three interest-free installments over 60 days, with no credit registration, available at checkout through PSPs such as Mollie.
Billink
BNPL
Dutch pay-after-delivery provider, one of the four BNPL firms that signed the Dutch code of conduct, offered by gateways such as PAY..
53 million BNPL transactions at the four Dutch providers in 2024, AFM
Payment by digital wallet and X-Pay in the Benelux
Phones are now a mainstream way to pay at the Dutch till. In 2025, 39% of point-of-sale payments were made with a phone or smartwatch, up from 34% a year earlier, mostly through Apple Pay and Google Pay. Already in 2024, 45% of contactless payments in the Netherlands came from a mobile device. These X-Pay wallets also speed up card payments online.
Belgium has its own mobile champion. The Payconiq by Bancontact app became Bancontact Pay on March 16, 2026, with 2 million users, and 48% of Belgians paid with a QR code in 2025. Bancontact counted 526 million mobile payments in 2025, up 11.6%. Wero, the European wallet from EPI, now sits next to it in Belgian banking apps and takes over from iDEAL and from Payconiq in Luxembourg, where the Payconiq app shut down on September 30, 2026.
Digital wallets and X-Pay in the Benelux
Bancontact Pay
QR wallet
The Belgian mobile payment app, formerly Payconiq by Bancontact, used to scan QR codes in shops, pay online and send money to friends, available to customers of 17 banks.
526 million Bancontact mobile payments in 2025, Bancontact Company
Wero
European wallet
EPI's account-based wallet for transfers between people and online payments, live for e-commerce in Belgium since March 2026, launched in Luxembourg on September 1, 2026 and replacing iDEAL by 2027.
56 million Wero users in Europe in July 2026, EPI
Apple Pay
Mobile wallet
Apple's wallet, widely used in Dutch and Belgian stores for contactless payments with tokenized debit cards, and offered at checkout by local gateways.
39% of Dutch point-of-sale payments made with a phone or smartwatch in 2025, De Nederlandsche Bank
Google Pay
Mobile wallet
The Android wallet for tap-to-pay with Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit cards, and an express checkout option at Benelux webshops.
Payments in the Benelux: FAQ
What is the most popular online payment method in the Netherlands?
iDEAL. It paid for 72% of Dutch online purchases in Q1 2026, far ahead of credit cards and Klarna. iDEAL is now branded iDEAL | Wero and will move fully to Wero by the end of 2027.
What happens to iDEAL with Wero?
Shoppers keep paying through their own bank. All Dutch banks connect to Wero by October 2026, transactions then move gradually to Wero's infrastructure, and the migration should be complete by December 31, 2027. Merchants and PSPs need to adapt their integrations along the way.
Do I need Bancontact to sell in Belgium?
Yes, in practice. Bancontact handles more than 2.5 billion payments a year and reported 393 million online payments via mobile solutions in 2025. Most Belgian cards carry the brand. Wero for e-commerce has been live in Belgium since March 2026 and is a useful addition.
Is Payconiq still available in Luxembourg?
No. Payconiq's direct merchant portfolio moved to Buckaroo in 2026, and the Payconiq app closed on September 30, 2026. Luxembourg banks now offer Wero instead, and merchants had to replace Payconiq QR codes with Wero ones.
Accept local payments in the Benelux with NORBr
In the Benelux, merchants mostly use gateways such as Mollie, Buckaroo, MultiSafepay or PAY, and Worldline and CCV in stores. A PSP, PayFac, ISO or ISV should check iDEAL to Wero migration readiness, Bancontact acquiring and local BNPL links.
With NORBr, you can connect any acquirer, PSP or local provider that offers iDEAL | Wero, Bancontact, Riverty and Klarna. Some are already in our connector catalog; Mapper™ gets the others live in days, and Smart Checkout shows each shopper the right methods. Explore the other #PayWorldTour guides.
Local payment providers in the Benelux
Mollie
Payment gateway
Amsterdam-based payment provider serving SMEs and larger merchants across Europe, with the Netherlands and Belgium as core markets; it agreed to acquire GoCardless, with completion expected in the second half of 2026.
€147 million net revenue before interest in 2025, up 29%, Mollie
Covers: Cards, iDEAL | Wero, Bancontact, Wero, in3, Klarna, Apple Pay, Google Pay
Buckaroo
PSP
Utrecht-based payment service provider founded in 2005, serving online and in-store merchants in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and the new home of Payconiq Luxembourg’s direct merchant portfolio ahead of Wero.
1 billion+ transactions processed per year for 47,000+ business customers, 2025, Buckaroo
Covers: Cards, iDEAL | Wero, Bancontact, Wero, PayPal, Pay by Bank
MultiSafepay
Payment gateway
Amsterdam payment gateway, part of Ant International's Antom since 2024, offering more than 40 local and international methods to European SMEs online and in store.
20,000+ SME merchants across Europe in April 2025, MultiSafepay via Business Wire
Covers: Cards, iDEAL | Wero, Bancontact, KBC/CBC, Belfius, SEPA Direct Debit, Klarna, Apple Pay, Google Pay
PAY.
PSP
Dutch payment service provider for online and in-store merchants, with a wide set of Benelux methods and BNPL partners; it processed its first Wero e-commerce transaction in September 2025.
Covers: Cards, iDEAL | Wero, Wero, Bancontact, Klarna, in3, Riverty, Billink, Paysafecard, Apple Pay, Google Pay
CCV
Payment terminals
Arnhem-founded provider of payment terminals, processing and acquiring services in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, acquired by Fiserv in 2025 and now trading as CCV from Fiserv.
600,000+ businesses served in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, 2025, Fiserv
Covers: Cards, Bancontact, Debit Mastercard, Visa Debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay
Worldline
Acquirer
Payments group with deep Belgian roots and a leading acquirer for Bancontact and cards in Belgium and Luxembourg; it enabled the first Belgian Wero e-commerce payment in 2026.
Covers: Bancontact, Cards, Wero, Apple Pay, Google Pay
