Despite their lack of popularity in Dutch shops and supermarkets, credit card use in the Netherlands grew by 10.3% in 2017 to some 160 million transactions.

Online payment by debit card, credit card, iDEAL, PayPal, AfterPay and automatic debit increased and accounted for around €150bn, according to figures from the Dutch Payment Association.

A poll by Creditcard.nl in 2016 showed some 55% of Dutch consumers own a credit card but that 62% only use it abroad when their debit cards are not accepted. In the Netherlands credit cards are mostly used to pay for hotels and purchases via the internet.

The latter is borne out by the latest figures: credit card payments for hotel payments rose by 8.5%. Online payment for entertainment services like Netflix and Spotify account for the biggest increase, with a rise of 14.1%, taking total credit card sales to €12bn.

The number of contactless payments rose by 49% in 2017. Supermarkets account for a third of contactless payments, followed by bars and restaurants with 7%.