Public transport in the Netherlands: paying by bank card or OV-pas, the check-in rules, and when a subscription saves money

Dutch public transport runs on one national payment system. You check in when you board and check out when you leave, on every train, bus, tram and metro in the country. Since 2023 you can do this with your own contactless bank card or phone. The system is called OVpay. The old travel card, the OV-chipkaart, is being phased out: since 1 July 2026 the anonymous version is no longer sold, and all OV-chipkaarts stop working at the end of 2027. This guide explains which card to use, what journeys cost in 2026, when a discount subscription pays off, and how to fix the common problems: a missed check-out, a blocked card, or an inspector finding no valid check-in.

There are three ways to check in. A single journey costs the same full fare with each of them. The difference is what each card can carry, and how you pay.

The bank card and the OV-pas together replace the OV-chipkaart. The changeover is happening now and runs until the end of 2027. If you already have an NS season ticket on an OV-chipkaart, keep using that card. NS starts moving subscriptions to the new system at the end of 2026 and will message you when it is your turn. If you are new and have no travel products yet, you can usually skip the OV-chipkaart completely. The Switch Helper on ovpay.nl gives a personal step-by-step plan.

Check-in records where your journey starts. Check-out records where it ends, so the system can charge the right fare. Missing either one costs money. These rules prevent that:

• Tap in at the start and tap out at the end, every time. At stations you tap the gates or the free-standing poles. On buses and trams you tap the reader at the door.
• Use exactly the same card or device both times. The card in your phone's wallet and the plastic card of the same account count as two different cards. Checked in with your phone? Check out with your phone.
• Check out with the operator you checked in with. The operator's name is shown above the reader, and NS readers are yellow. At stations shared by several operators, look before you tap.
• A change of operator means: tap out, then tap in again. This applies when you go from bus to train, and when you switch between train companies, for example from NS to Arriva. Between two NS trains you stay checked in, unless you must pass gates to reach your platform.
• One person per card. You cannot pay for a friend with the same card, and children need their own card too.
• Changed your mind? Check out at the same NS station within 60 minutes and the journey is cancelled. Nothing is charged.
• Check out on time. At the railway, checking out is possible up to 6 hours after check-in. After that, the trip has to be corrected afterwards.

Bus, tram and metro fares have two parts: a base fare of €1.16 per check-in (the national 2026 rate) plus a price per kilometre that each region sets. The journey planner shows the exact price of any trip before you go, so you never have to guess.

Train fares are fixed per route and are the same at every time of day. With a bank card you pay exactly what an OV-chipkaart without discount pays: the full second-class fare. Two extras exist. The Intercity Direct and ICE fast trains carry a €3.20 supplement on part of their routes. And a paper single ticket from the machine carries a €1.60 surcharge, so tap in with your card instead of buying paper.

With a bank card or phone you do not see a price at the gate. All journeys of one day are added up and collected the next day in one payment. On your bank statement it appears with a payment reference starting with NLOV. The OVpay app lists every trip behind that payment. If you link your card in Mijn NS, you can also see your train trips and costs there.

Balance travel on an OV-chipkaart works with a deposit. At check-in the reader takes a boarding fee (instaptarief): €20 on the train, at least €4 on the bus. At check-out you get the difference with the real fare back. This is why an OV-chipkaart needs a minimum balance before the gate opens: €20 for the train, or €10 if an NS season ticket is on the card. A bank card has no minimum.

On a bare bank card, train travel is always full price. The discounts live in NS subscriptions. One thing to know first: NS subscriptions do not work on a bank card, and not yet on the OV-pas either. They still need a personal OV-chipkaart. NS moves subscriptions to the OV-pas from the end of 2026. Until NS messages you about that, taking a subscription means carrying an OV-chipkaart.

Dal Voordeel is the subscription to check first. It costs €6.35 per month and gives 40% discount on NS trains during off-peak hours, all weekend and on public holidays. 40% of €16 is €6.40, so from about €16 of off-peak train travel per month the subscription already pays for itself.

Off-peak (daluren) means: weekdays before 6:30, from 9:00 to 16:00, and after 18:30, plus the whole weekend and public holidays. Your check-in moment decides the discount. NS allows a margin of 5 minutes around the edges of the window, as long as you start travelling within 30 minutes of checking in. When a journey involves more than one operator, every check-in must fall in off-peak time to keep the discount on the whole trip.

A subscription can also cut fares for people travelling with you. With the co-travel discount (samenreiskorting), up to 3 people travelling together with a subscription holder get the same 40% off during off-peak hours. This is the cheapest way to take visiting family on a day trip. The co-travel discount is not yet possible on the OV-pas.

Bus, tram and metro companies sell their own day and month products. If you ride the same city line every day, check the operator's own site for a month product before you keep paying per trip. The journey planner shows which operator runs your route.

Children under 4 always travel free and need nothing. For children aged 4 to 11 there are three arrangements:

• Kids Vrij: free train travel for children aged 4 to 11, also during rush hour, on the trains of all operators. It costs €0 per month. Someone aged 12 or older with a valid ticket must travel along and may bring up to three Kids Vrij children. The child needs their own personal OV-chipkaart (€7.50 one-off). Apply via Mijn NS; a new card arrives within a week. Kids Vrij also gives the child 34% discount on bus, tram and metro.
• Railrunner: a €2.50 day ticket for a child aged 4 to 11. It is an e-ticket, so it works immediately. Useful for a trip today, while the Kids Vrij card is still on its way.
• Child discount on bus, tram and metro with OVpay: children aged 4 to 11 can get an age discount linked to their own bank card or OV-pas. You add it in your OVpay account with the child's date of birth and a photo. A child must always tap their own card, never yours; as a parent you manage the child's card from your own OVpay account. Put the discount on a physical card rather than a phone wallet card. Banks replace wallet cards from time to time, and the discount then stops working until you add it again.

NS runs the national trains. Regional lines are run by companies such as Arriva, Keolis, Qbuzz and EBS. City transport has its own companies: GVB in Amsterdam, RET in Rotterdam and HTM in The Hague, with Connexxion and others running buses elsewhere. For paying, none of this matters: one card works everywhere. It matters at the check-in pole (tap the right operator) and when you need customer service about one specific trip.

For door-to-door planning use 9292. It covers all operators and all modes in one planner, shows the price of the trip, and has an app. The NS app does the same for trains and shows platforms and delays. Check the planner again shortly before you leave, because planned track work can replace trains with slower buses.

Many stations rent OV-fiets shared bikes for the last kilometres. Renting one still requires an OV-chipkaart; a bank card or OV-pas does not work for it yet. For daily short trips a bike of your own is usually cheaper than public transport; the bike guide covers OV-fiets and buying a cheap bike.

Without a check-out the system does not know where you got off, so it charges a standard amount instead of the real fare. At NS this correction is €33.30 with a bank card or OV-pas. On an OV-chipkaart you lose the €20 boarding fee on the train, or at least €4 on the bus. You can get the difference back:

• Paid with a bank card or OV-pas: fix it yourself in the OVpay app or on ovpay.nl. This works from 6 hours after the trip until 60 days later. It also works without an account, using the NLOV payment reference from your bank statement. Refunds arrive within 5 days.
• Paid with an OV-chipkaart: request the correction on uitcheckgemist.nl, for any operator, up to 180 days back.
• The corrections are limited: at NS a maximum of 3 per calendar year, at every other operator 3 per half year, counted per operator. Within those limits, always claim your money back.
• Did a broken reader or a system failure cause it? Then contact the operator of that trip directly instead.

A refusal at check-in usually has one of three causes:

• An earlier fare failed to collect. Your card is then blocked for travel until the amount is paid. Pay it in the OVpay app or website (iDEAL, Mastercard, Visa, Apple Pay or Google Pay), or put money on your bank account and hold the card against any reader: the red cross tells the system to retry the payment. About 15 minutes after a successful payment you can check in again. OVpay also retries by itself, at least 4 times on different days. Turn on notifications in the OVpay app to hear about a failed payment straight away.
• The card type is not accepted. American Express does not work on Dutch public transport, and Paysafe cards do not work either. With Revolut and Vivid you cannot check in with a phone or smartwatch at NS; use their physical card.
• An OV-chipkaart without enough balance. The train needs €20 on the card (€10 with an NS season ticket), the bus at least €4. Top up at a machine or turn on automatic top-up.

The system treats the wallet card in your phone and the plastic card as two different cards, even when they belong to the same bank account. One tap with each creates two incomplete journeys: a missed check-out on the phone and a missed check-in on the card. Correct both in the OVpay app, the same way as a forgotten check-out. Prevent it by choosing one way of tapping and sticking to it.

A conductor or inspector scans your card during the trip. The scan shows only whether, where and when you checked in; it shows no bank details. Without a valid check-in you pay the fare plus a fine. On NS trains the fine is €50 if you pay the conductor immediately on the train, by card or in cash. If you pay later, it is €70, and a letter gives you 14 days to pay. After those 14 days, €20 administration costs are added, and another 14 days later €25 collection costs follow. City and regional operators run their own inspections with their own fine amounts.

If you realise during the trip that your check-in failed, go to the conductor straight away. That is always better than waiting for the check. And if you believe a fine is wrong, do not pay it on the spot: after immediate payment you cannot object anymore. Choose the later payment, pay within 14 days, and object at NS customer service. If the objection is accepted, you get the money back.

Balance on an OV-chipkaart stays your money. On ov-chipkaart.nl you can check the balance of any card, even an expired one, and request it back. The cards stop working at the end of 2027, so claim leftover balance when you switch to a bank card or OV-pas.

Transport is one of the larger items in a monthly budget. The cost of living guide puts it next to rent, groceries and insurance in a realistic monthly overview. And if you are still arranging the basics, the first 90 days checklist puts BSN, DigiD, health insurance and a bank account in the right order.