What is the OV- Chipcard and Should I Buy One?


OV Chipcard
If you are not a resident of the Netherlands and you are planning on travelling a lot by train then a good option is to purchase the anonymous OV-Chipcard. This card costs €7.50 and has no personal details on it (no name or photo for example) so it can be used by anyone! This card needs to be topped up before it can be used. 

Where can I buy the anonymous Ov-Chipcard?

  • At the train station ‘Tickets & Service’ counters or other public transport ticket desks
  • At the NS ticket machines (with the blue sign and white NS logo across the top)
  • Supermarkets (e.g. Albert Heijn) and tobacco shops or stationery shops such as the Bruna. You can check this website to find OV-Chipcard service points throughout the Netherlands. At these points you can purchase the OV-chipcard and also load credit onto a card.
How Do I Use My Anonymous card- IS IT WORTH IT?
The card may look like a great option but remember that this card costs €7.50 so it is only good value if you plan to travel more than 7 or 8 times by train. (The supplemental fee for an individual ticket at the vending machine or ticket office is €1). So the card saves you money on these supplemental individual ticket costs only if you plan to travel more than 8 times when you are in the Netherlands or if you plan to avail of ‘samenkorting’. These days it is also very easy to purchase your tickets online and via smartphone - so you may prefer this option rather than having a physical card that needs topping up.  

1 Activating the OV - Chipcard
The anonymous OV-Chipcard only needs to be activated if you have purchased it from a source OTHER than the NS ticket desk/ticket machine (i.e another public transport operator). You can do that this at the NS ticket machine at the station. So for most tourists arriving in Amsterdam or Eindhoven airport you do not need to activate your OV - Chipcard as you will buy it from the regular NS train station. Just add credit to the card and start using it!

2. Topping up the Card
You can top up your OV-Chipcard with credit using the NS ticket machine. You can pay at an NS ticket machine with a debit card, credit card and in some cases coins. If you ask at the service desk for assistance topping up your card and they top it up for you they will charge you a 0.50 cent fee.

3. Fees for using the card
It is free to top up your card if you do so at the ticket machines. When you travel with the OV-chipcard you are charged a ‘boarding fee’ The minimum boarding fee for travelling with the anonymous OV-Chipcard is €20 when travelling in NS trains or €10 on Syntus trains and €4 when travelling by tram/metro or bus. This means when you 'chip in' (scan your card at the scan points before boarding) you are charged €20, and when you check in at the bus or tram station you will be charged €4. If you don’t have this minimum credit in your card you cannot check in. Of course the price of the train journey will not always be €20 - the price of travel in NS is based per kilometre and the money taken from your OV-chipcard is just a ‘boarding fee’. Once you check out at the end of your journey your train fee will be calculated based on the distance you have travelled and the cost will be debuted leaving the balance in your account. Of course this means that you always need to have a €20 balance on your card to use it! For tourist travel this makes it not such a good deal as you when you finish your journey you will have to go about getting that refund for any cash left over. 

4. Refunds for credit on the anonymous OV-chipcard
In my opinion, this card is a lot of hassle for tourists. First of all you have to buy the card for €7.50 then you have to make sure it is always topped up to a minimum of €20. This means the initial cost is 27.50 before you even board a train! You have to remember all the time to top up your card to a minimum of €20 before you use it. Of course you can top up your card up to a maximum of €150 in one go but I don’t advise this. If you lose your card you have no way of getting a refund. Once you finish your journey there may be credit left on your card and in order to get this back you need to go to the ticket counter to reclaim your balance. They will only refund up to €30 and they charge a €2.50 handling fees. These fees add up and makes train travel a little complicated for those not familiar with the system. 

5. What happens if your card stops working?

The card is a contactless card with a chip and antenna inside it is the case that sometimes the card stops working! It happened to me once and I went to the NS ticket desk and was told I had to go online to apply for a replacement or fill out a form to apply for a refund for the amount on the defective card. The cost of the card will be refunded too but only if the card is less than 2 years old.  You can find the eform here:  There may be a cost involved in getting a replacement card in the case of loss, theft, change of personal details or a technical defect.

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