Money to Holland

eDicky

givememoney said:

Just looked up Maestro and says it is being phased out 1st July 2023. Is it worth me applying? We are going to Holland April so won't apply I suppose.

If you can still obtain a Maestro card somehow in UK, go ahead, it may be still valid for your trip and accepted as equal to its Dutch namesake, or maybe not. Please let us know if you do. I thought they were phased out long ago in UK because they attract hardy any interchange fee from the merchant for the banks.

The Dutch don't stand for such fees, that's why only Maestro and the Visa equivalent (I forget the name) are used in the Netherlands in general. They're not taken in by cashbacks and freebies etc that UK debit and credit cards offer, paid for by higher interchange fees to merchants who simply raise prices to pay for them...

martindow

What is the situation with ATMs - do they accept other debit cards or only Maestro?  It looks as if the OP is going to need cash, but being able to withdraw cash from time to time in NL is better than carrying wads of cash from the UK.

eDicky

martindow said:

What is the situation with ATMs - do they accept other debit cards or only Maestro?  It looks as if the OP is going to need cash, but being able to withdraw cash from time to time in NL is better than carrying wads of cash from the UK.

Dutch ATMs accept any valid debit or credit card (as I previously mentioned).