Opening a Dutch bank account as a student
You need an IBAN for rent, your job and every Tikkie. Which bank opens fastest for internationals, and what to bring.
Landlords want rent from a Dutch IBAN, employers pay to one, and your friends will send you Tikkies. Do this in week one, right after your BSN.
Fastest: app banks
bunq opens a full Dutch IBAN from your phone in about 10 minutes with a passport and a BSN (some plans without BSN for the first weeks). Card arrives in a few days. There's a small monthly fee on most plans; the free tier changes, check the current one. Revolut and N26 also work for daily spending, but they give you a Lithuanian or German IBAN, and a few Dutch landlords and employers still refuse non-NL IBANs.
Traditional: ING, ABN AMRO, Rabobank
Free or near-free student accounts, proper Dutch IBAN, iDEAL built in. The catch: you need an appointment (often 1 to 3 weeks out in September), a BSN, a registered address, and proof of enrolment. ABN AMRO has a good English onboarding for internationals; ING is the most common among students.
What you need
- Passport (EU ID card usually fine)
- BSN
- Registered address (your rental contract helps)
- Proof of enrolment for a student account
- Non-EU: residence permit or the letter from IND saying it's on its way
Tips
Turn on iDEAL and Tikkie once your account is live, you'll use them daily. Never give your login to anyone, including "the bank" calling you: that's a classic scam. And set up a standing order for rent on the 1st, landlords notice the tenants who pay on time.
Open a Dutch IBAN from your phone
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