De Nederlandsche Bank has launched quarterly tables and a dashboard that break down card payments by spending category and country. The first release shows that Dutch cardholders made more than 25 million transactions at Belgian and German fuel stations in the first half of 2026, up 20% from a year earlier, while the value rose 32% to about EUR 1.5 billion. Belgium recorded the strongest transaction growth, up 33% to 11.3 million, with spending of EUR 593.6 million. Transactions in Germany increased 11% to 14.2 million, worth EUR 872.4 million. By contrast, transactions at Dutch fuel stations fell 3% to 187 million, although their value increased 4% to EUR 6.6 billion. The figures include other fuel station purchases, such as food and electric vehicle charging, and do not establish why cross-border payments increased. The data cover debit and credit cards issued by Dutch payment service providers, including online payments, and use Merchant Category Codes to classify spending. Supermarkets were the largest category in the first half of 2026 at EUR 24.2 billion, followed by fuel stations at EUR 8.5 billion across domestic and foreign locations.
2026-09-28De Nederlandsche Bank
De Nederlandsche Bank launches quarterly card payment data, Belgian and German fuel station spending rises 32%
De Nederlandsche Bank has launched quarterly card payment data broken down by spending category and country. Dutch card transactions at Belgian and German fuel stations rose 20% to more than 25 million in the first half of 2026, while their value increased 32% to about EUR 1.5 billion. Domestic fuel station transactions fell 3%, although spending rose 4% to EUR 6.6 billion.