The rule
An IBAN starts with a country code: NL for a Dutch account, DE for a German one, LT for Lithuania, BE for Belgium. For payments in euros, that code is not supposed to matter. De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), which enforces the rule in the Netherlands, puts it like this: "A payer or payee must not only accept a Dutch IBAN for transfers or direct debits, but also euro IBANs from all other countries in the EU/EEA" (DNB, checked 5 Oct 2026).
The rule comes from the EU's SEPA Regulation. Article 9 says a payer making a transfer, and a payee accepting a transfer or collecting a direct debit, "shall not specify the Member State in which that payment account is to be located", as long as the account can be reached for euro transfers (Regulation (EU) 260/2012, article 9, checked 5 Oct 2026).
Where it applies
- Your salary. DNB's own example is an employer that only wants to pay salaries to Dutch IBANs: that is not allowed, and the employer must accept an IBAN from another EU or EEA country.
- Direct debits. A company collecting your rent, energy bill, phone bill or insurance premium by direct debit must accept a euro IBAN from another EU or EEA country.
- Transfers to you from a company or public body, such as a refund.
DNB says it can impose "an order subject to penalty or a fine" for IBAN discrimination. Those penalties do not apply to consumers (regulation, article 11(2)), so a private person acting outside a business cannot be fined under it.
Where it does not apply
- Card payments and cash. DNB: the rules do not cover "payments you make with your debit card or credit card for online and physical purchases, nor do they cover cash withdrawals from ATMs".
- Payment requests. DNB: "payment requests are not covered by the ban on IBAN discrimination". A request such as a Tikkie that only works with some banks is not unlawful. See iDEAL and Tikkie without a Dutch bank account.
- Accounts outside the EU and EEA, or in another currency. The regulation covers transfers and direct debits "denominated in euro within the Union" (article 1). An account in the UK, the US or elsewhere outside the EU and EEA is not protected by it, and neither is an account in pounds or dollars.
Which IBAN the expat banks give you
- bunq: "The Dutch IBAN is our default IBAN" (bunq, checked 5 Oct 2026).
- Revolut: customers living in the Netherlands are being moved to Revolut's Dutch branch and "receive a Dutch IBAN"; the move is gradual (Revolut help, checked 5 Oct 2026).
- N26: "All of N26's IBANs start with DE (Germany), FR (France), IT (Italy), or ES (Spain)" (N26, checked 5 Oct 2026). N26 adds that refusing an IBAN from another EEA country has been against European law since 1 February 2016 (N26 support, checked 5 Oct 2026).
- Wise: uses its Belgian entity, with a Belgian bank code and address, for some euro account details (Wise, checked 5 Oct 2026).
A foreign IBAN works for the payments above by law, but a Dutch one avoids the argument. Our banking guide covers which banks give one, and which open before you have a BSN. The neobank cards are compared side by side on bunq against Revolut and N26 against Revolut.
If your IBAN is refused
- Complain to the company or organisation first. DNB asks you to do this before you report.
- If that does not solve it, report it with DNB's online form, with your evidence (DNB reporting form).
- DNB tells you within three weeks whether it will look into your report. Its duty of confidentiality means it cannot tell you what it does with it afterwards.
One case that is not IBAN discrimination: a savings or investment provider that only accepts a Dutch account as the linked account you pay in from and withdraw to. DNB gives this as an example that falls outside the rule. Check this before you open a savings account with a foreign IBAN as your only current account; the savings account comparison links to each provider's own conditions.