Coffeeshops
and
banking
Bank relationships, cash, card payments and value transport — the six core issues behind the sector's banking problems.
That differs per coffeeshop. After Worldline terminated card payment contracts, dozens of coffeeshops lost card payments. We are pursuing proceedings on this and won summary proceedings on behalf of affiliated entrepreneurs.
BCD position: Structurally excluding legal, tolerated entrepreneurs from payment services increases cash flows and security risks; access to banking services should be assessed on the individual business.
Jump to
Legal framework
Tolerance policy, AML client due diligence and the Bibob Act.
Banks & payments
Banks' duty of care, cash-in-transit and card payments.
Politics & advocacy
Parliamentary questions, motions and the steps towards agreements.
Other topics
Additional pages in this dossier.
Coffeeshops are tolerated, but like any other business they have to pay their taxes, staff and rent. At the same time, banks structurally classify them as high-risk, which leads to business accounts being closed or refused. This directly undermines the practical feasibility of the tolerance policy.
This dossier brings together the legal, practical and political dimensions: from the Money Laundering Act (Wwft) and banks' duty of care to the Bibob integrity framework, the collapse of secure value transport, the limited card-payment infrastructure and the political steps — including the Cash Money Covenant — taken to keep the sector workable.
Sources
- Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financieren van terrorisme (Wwft)Legal framework for customer due diligence by banks and payment service providersNo direct source link included yet
- Correspondentie BCD — WorldlineTermination of card payment contracts and the subsequent proceedingsNo direct source link included yet
- Kamervragen en antwoorden over de-riskingAnswers to questions from MPs Sneller and Van Berkel on the loss of access to digital payment services for the coffeeshop sector
Cite this page: https://coffeeshopbond.nl/en/publicaties/coffeeshops-en-betalingsverkeer
Sources and presentation updated: 27 September 2026.
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