Opening a Bank account

In Wageningen you will find several bank shops where students may go to apply for a Dutch bank account. Most of these bank shops will ask you for your BSN (Citizen service number) before opening a bank account. The municipality will provide you with this BSN as soon as you are registered as a citizen of Wageningen (this procedure may take a few weeks).

To shorten this procedure we recommend students to apply for a bank account at the ABN AMRO bank. The ABN AMRO bank allows students to apply for a bank account before they have received their BSN. Do not start this procedure before our housing department has informed you about your address in the Netherlands.

The bank shop will ask you for a summary from the Municipal Basic Administration (GBA) mentioning your BSN. If your BSN is not yet available, the bank will give another 2 months to submit the BSN. In case you do not submit the number within those 2 months, the bank will close your account.

Living allowance through Wageningen University:

Only applicable to students who receive living allowance through Wageningen University:

Please hand in your account number at the student desk with the following information or submit the information through our 'Questions and Answers' : Name, Student number, IBAN.

Please check your IBAN very carefully and make sure that it is correct.
Please make sure that you give us your personal IBAN and not a savings account number.

* - Non-EU students who will open a Dutch bank account upon arrival, are strongly advised to bring a credit card (Visa or Mastercard) or cash for the first month. Since it will take a 3-4 weeks before you receive the living allowance from the University on your Dutch bank account. You will need the credit card or cash to pay for rent, groceries, transportation, a bike and sometimes furniture, books or a phone card. You are advised to bring at least 300 euros.