AMSTERDAM - ABN AMRO has still found a way to get rid of its account holders abroad. They are suddenly confronted with a surcharge on the usual costs. For residents of Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius and Saba, the surcharge has been 15 euros per month since 1 July. For Aruba, the surcharge remains 'limited' to 8 euros because the country falls in a lower risk category than the other islands.
Earlier this year, ABN AMRO attacked its Dutch customers living abroad by announcing that they would unilaterally close their accounts. Under pressure from the Ministry of Finance, the bank - of which the Dutch state is the majority shareholder - suspended that decision.
Reference was made to the private member's bill of Member of Parliament Joost Sneller, who wants to oblige the major banks to also open their basic services to Dutch citizens abroad.
ABN AMRO does not only count Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten as foreign countries (which is formally correct), but also the public entities Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, while these are fully part of the country of the Netherlands. Incidentally, other government services such as the Central Bureau for Driving Licenses still see the BES islands as abroad.
“For customers who do not live in the Netherlands or in a special municipality (BES islands), the costs that we incur as a bank are on average higher. We charge part of these costs. The surcharge is debited monthly at the same time as the costs of your payment products. The amount of the surcharge depends on the risk profile of the country where you live," the bank reports on its website.