Digital payments are becoming increasingly popular on King’s Day

Digital payments are becoming increasingly popular on King’s Day, especially when buying a beer or paying to use a toilet. Last year, 30 percent more Tikkie transactions were made on the national holiday, compared to 2022.

The number of Tikkie payments on King’s Day last year was six times higher than on a normal day. On average, residents of the Netherlands paid approximately 13 euros for their King’s Day purchases via Tikkie. About 13 percent of the amounts were above 25 euros.

The descriptions show which purchases were paid for by Tikkie. Beer was at the top of the list, followed by clothing and food. Visits to the toilet come in a surprisingly high fourth place. “Dire need can lead to good cash flow,” said Dutch bank ABN Amro. Items sold on the open market wound up in fifth place on the list.

A spokesperson for Rabobank says that the bank sees a similar trend, which also observed a spike in payment requests on its platform last year. “The number of payment requests increases very quickly on King’s Day,” he explained. “People are often out and about with their friends and payment requests via a QR code are often used on the flea market.”

At ING, more payment requests were mainly sent on the day before King’s Day and the day after, a spokesperson said. Compared to a normal day, there was an increase of 30 percent on those days last year.

“We assume that this is because people spend money on King’s Day with friends and family to celebrate, and get the money back or pay it back the next day,” she explained.