Banking in the Netherlands

seesaw

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I'm thinking of booking a cheap flight to Amsterdam to set up some bank accounts.

I don't want to walk in off the street and risk being turned down so I would like to arrange a couple of meetings in advance.

I'm not sure how to go about setting these up and who to contact.

My preference is to open an account with Rabobank. I've read in another thread that you can't do it in Amsterdam and you need to go to Rotterdam. I can do that if its necessary but I don't know if its true.

What bank would be the next best alternative after Rabo?

Also are bank hours the same as here or do they open Saturdays?
 
The only Rabo branch I've tried in Amsterdam is the Schipol branch and they said no, it's worth trying the other branches though. Email or call them and they'll let you know if they're taking international customers.

You can get a train from Schipol to Rotterdam easily enough. They run every 15 minutes or so, and it's only a 25 minute journey.
 
Hi seesaw.
I've travelled to Rotterdam and opened a Rabobank a/c. It's fairly straightforward to do. You can easily fly over and back in the day. The train Schipol takes no more than 40 mins.
I'll PM you the contact and you can arrange a meeting with them.

You'll need to email a copy of your passport and a statement copy of you current account.

Interest rate is low ~ 2.3% and there fees of 4.40 per quarter on the current account.
Make sure keep some money in the current account so you won't go overdrawn.

The meeting takes no more than 15mins. Everyone speaks English and are very helpful. You'll get you code generator (like the Rabodirect one) and will sign the contract in Dutch. I translated the documents by scanning then and used an OCR application to copy & paste into google translate. All documentation is in Dutch and some may think that is hassle to translate but I think its a small price for piece of mind. You'll also get a chip&pin card by post which is used with the code generator and also if you want to use it in the ATM. You'll need to ring Rabo to get the card as they don't send it out automatically for non-Dutch customers.

I asked in the meeting why I could open an account in rotterdam but not amsterdam. I was told that Rabo is a cooperative bank that has different rules depending on the region. Rotterdam accept foreign customers but amsterdam doesn't. Also there have been Irish customers opening accounts with them for over 2 years now. Hope this helps you.
 
Bad news. Rabobank Rotterdam are no longer allowing accounts to be opened from Ireland.
 
I am surprised at that news. I wonder what has changed.

Out of interest - did you email the contact email address directly or did you email the info at rabobank rotterdam address?
I got rejected when I emailed the info address but the contact was more than helpful and had no problem with me opening an account.
Did he give any reason?
 
It was your contact, the reason...."Our board of directors make this move."
 
Cheers for the update Seesaw.
That's bad news indeed.

Hope current Irish customers with Rabobank won't face any problems.
It took a bit of effort to get the account open - would be annoying if I was forced to close it. I might email my contact in relation to my own situation.

In terms of other banks - ABN AMRO were another bank that I tried to open an account with at Schipol airport. I dropped into the branch but was told that I couldn't open the account there and needed to another branch 5/10 mins away outside the airport for international customers. Also that I needed a minimum of 25K in the account. I didn't bother trying to find the branch and went on to Rotterdam - so never opened the account.

Here's some further information on a poster who managed to open an account with them - http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=156141
 
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