How do people in the Netherlands pay online?
Nearly everyone buys online. Eurostat puts the share of people in the Netherlands who bought something online in the previous 12 months at 94.18% in 2025, against an EU average of 73.56%. The Thuiswinkel Markt Monitor, run by NielsenIQ for Thuiswinkel.org and Retail Insiders, counted EUR 35.7 billion of online consumer spending in 2025, 1% less than in 2024, across 347 million purchases. 41% of online purchases were made on a smartphone, up 5 percentage points.
iDEAL is the default at checkout. The same survey found that iDEAL was used for 71% of online purchases in 2025, down from 72%, with credit cards at 8% and Klarna at 4%. With iDEAL, the shopper is sent to their own bank or banking app, approves a payment with the amount already filled in and returns to the shop. The Dutch Payments Association reports that more than 1.5 billion iDEAL transactions were made in 2025.
The checkout itself has changed. Currence iDEAL required merchants to replace their bank selection lists with a single iDEAL button by 31 March 2025, so the shop shows one iDEAL button instead of a list of banks.
iDEAL is becoming Wero, the European digital wallet. From the end of January 2026 the brand changes to iDEAL | Wero, and the Dutch Payments Association says every iDEAL merchant will have switched to Wero by the end of 2027 at the latest. The partnership between iDEAL and the instalment provider in3 was phased out during 2025, because the first version of Wero does not support buy now, pay later.
What rules shape online payments in the Netherlands?
VAT is 21%, with a reduced rate of 9% for items such as food, medicines and books, including e-books, and a zero rate mainly for cross-border business. A seller established in another EU country whose cross-border sales to consumers across the EU pass EUR 10,000 a year charges Dutch VAT on sales to Dutch customers, and can declare it through the One Stop Shop instead of registering in the Netherlands.
Shoppers have 14 days to cancel. The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) explains that the cooling-off period for online purchases runs until 14 days after the product is delivered. The seller must refund within 14 days of the cancellation and may wait until the item comes back or the shopper shows proof of sending it. If the seller does not give the right information about the cooling-off period, it is extended by one year.
Card surcharges are banned. Under EU rules, traders cannot charge an extra fee for using a particular consumer card, online or in store. Three-party schemes such as American Express and Diners Club, and business cards billed to an employer, are outside the ban.
Online payments need strong customer authentication. For online payments over EUR 30, the payer usually has to use at least two authentication elements, such as their phone and a PIN, or a password and a fingerprint.
Instant euro transfers are now standard. Under the EU Instant Payments Regulation, payment providers in the euro area have had to receive instant euro payments since January 2025 and, since 9 October 2025, to send them and offer a check that the payee’s name matches the account. An instant payment cannot cost more than a standard credit transfer.
How would Omno route payments in the Netherlands?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency, amount and customer group. In the Netherlands:
- iDEAL pay-ins would go to a provider that supports iDEAL | Wero, with the hosted checkout sending the shopper to their bank and the order pending until the provider confirms the payment.
- The move to Wero would be a change of routing rule for the method rather than a new integration, as long as a connected provider supports it.
- Card pay-ins would be routed by the merchant’s rules, for example by BIN, amount or customer group, with cascading: if a provider is unavailable or rejects the request, the payment moves to the next provider in the rule until one accepts.
- Klarna could be offered through a provider that supports it, for customer groups and order amounts the merchant chooses.
Webhooks would report the final status of every payment, the record a back office should trust before shipping an order, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for iDEAL first. Seven in ten online purchases are paid with it, so a Dutch checkout without iDEAL asks most shoppers to change habits.
Plan for the move to Wero. Check that your payment providers support iDEAL | Wero and that the checkout shows the new brand during 2026 and 2027.
Plan for mobile. 41% of online purchases were made on a smartphone in 2025, so the redirect to the banking app and back needs to work smoothly.
Plan for refunds within 14 days of a cancellation, and check whether your EU sales pass the EUR 10,000 One Stop Shop threshold.