Going Dutch: splitting bills, Tikkie and tipping

Newcomers commonly report that money between friends and colleagues is handled openly and precisely:

• Everyone pays their share. After a dinner, a group outing or a shared present, the costs are often divided exactly, sometimes down to the cent.
• Payment requests by phone. One person pays, then sends the others a payment request. I amsterdam calls receiving your first Tikkie, a payment-request app forwarded via WhatsApp or paid through a QR code, a sign that you have become "a real Dutchie". Banks' own apps offer similar payment requests (betaalverzoek), which are paid through iDEAL.
• Very small amounts too. According to figures from ABN AMRO reported by DutchNews.nl, 157 million Tikkie payments worth EUR 7.4 billion were made in 2024, with an average of EUR 47.28; more than a million were for less than EUR 1.
• Cards everywhere. I amsterdam notes that the Netherlands is ahead in cashless payments and that most people, and almost all businesses, prefer card payments.
• Tipping is modest. Service charges are rarely added to the bill and tipping is not mandatory, according to I amsterdam.

The English phrase "going Dutch" means that each person pays their own share. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, as summarised on Wikipedia, it belongs to a family of English expressions with a derisive edge ("Dutch courage" is another) that date back to the rivalry between England and the Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century. In other words, the label is an old English joke, not a Dutch rule. Similar habits exist in many countries, often under their own names.

In the Netherlands today, splitting costs is mostly a matter of practicality: payment requests make it quick to settle up, and the habit is widespread enough that nobody needs to explain it.

Speed matters. ABN AMRO's figures for 2024 show that nine in ten Tikkies were paid within 24 hours and 64 percent within an hour. Paying a request you have agreed to quickly is part of the etiquette.

Tipping. I amsterdam describes a tip of around 10 percent for good service in a restaurant as standard, while stressing that tipping is not mandatory and that service charges are rarely added to the bill.

Who treats whom. There are clear exceptions to splitting. On your birthday at work, for example, you are usually the one who brings cake for colleagues (see the topic on birthdays and invitations).

• Generations. Payment apps are particularly popular among younger people for sharing bills, as DutchNews.nl noted in its reporting on Tikkie.
• Groups and relationships. How strictly costs are split differs between groups of friends, families, couples and colleagues. In a new group, watch how others do it or ask.
• Businesses. Card payments are preferred almost everywhere, according to I amsterdam, but individual shops, market stalls and cafes set their own rules on cash and cards.