This is an English translation. The original Dutch article is authoritative.
The Preliminary Relief Judge in Utrecht prohibits Worldline from terminating the agreements with the coffeeshops involved. Worldline's grounds for termination, namely that its (acquiring) bank no longer wishes to accept the processing of transactions from Dutch coffeeshops, are rejected.
The case revolved around the question of whether Worldline was permitted to terminate its services to coffeeshops. Worldline argued that its acquiring bank no longer wants to accept the processing of debit card transactions from Dutch coffeeshops. The judge found those grounds to be unacceptable.
The judge ruled that, given the circumstances of the case, Worldline was not permitted to terminate. A heavy factor in this decision is that Worldline, as a payment service provider, even though it is not a bank, holds an important position within the payment system and must therefore handle the interests of its clients, including coffeeshops, with care.
This interest is significant for the coffeeshops. The judge established that in the Netherlands, the majority of payments are made via debit card, that for coffeeshops this involves more than 80 percent of payments, and that coffeeshops face problems with their own banks if too much cash is used for payments. Therefore, the judge explicitly considered that debit card services are essential for coffeeshops to run their businesses.
The judge also ruled that the possibility of switching to another provider of debit card services is not realistic, at least not in the short term. The judge considered that applications elsewhere are blocked in practice and that coffeeshops cannot turn to many other providers for debit card services. According to the judge, this underlines the great importance of Worldline continuing its services to them.
Opposed to this interest, the judge deemed the reason cited by Worldline for terminating the services insufficient. The reason cited by Worldline essentially boils down to the fact that it no longer wants coffeeshops as clients because they are coffeeshops. This constitutes the exclusion of coffeeshops as a category, without individual assessment. The judge ruled that this categorical exclusion is not permitted, not even by a payment institution.
This implies that Worldline must, in principle, continue the services to the coffeeshops unchanged and for an indefinite period, at least until a final verdict is rendered in substantive proceedings between the parties or a settlement is reached.
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