You can travel on card balance with your:
1. Contactless debit card or credit card, also on your mobile (OVpay)
With OVpay, we are introducing the new check-in and check-out in public transport in the Netherlands. You can easily check in and out on with your contactless debit card, credit card or mobile phone. You don't have to register anywhere. Get on the bus, hold your pass against the card reader and check in. Are you getting off? Then check out again by holding your pass against the card reader again. Do you want to know more? Go to the
OVpay website.
2. OV-chipcard.
The OV-chipcard is a card that allows you to travel throughout the Netherlands. You load balance on this card yourself. The card is for everyone who occasionally to very regularly travels by public transport in the Netherlands, both locally, regionally and nationally. Read more about the
OV-chipcard.
You travel on balance with your contactless debit card or credit card and also on your debit/credit card on your phone/smartwatch. You simply check in and out with your card. When you check in and out remove your card from your wallet or cardholder and hold it against the card reader. This ensures that you only check in with one card.When you check out, always use the same card you checked in with. For example, did you check in with your mobile? If so, check out with the same card on your mobile too.
Use the The public transport companies call this new form of payment OVpay. Want to know more? Check our special OVpay website. Check the national OVpay website for the national developments.
You travel on balance with your OV-chipcard and you check in and out with your OV-chipcard.
| Personal OV-chipcard |
Anonymous OV-chipcard |
| Personal. |
Not personal. |
| A discount product/subscription can be loaded onto the card. |
No discount product/subscription can be loaded onto the card. |
| Automatic balance reloading is possible. |
Automatic balance reloading is not possible. |
| Can be blocked in case of loss or theft. |
Can not be blocked in case of loss or theft. |
| Validity: 5 years |
Validity: 5 years after production. |
| For sale via: www.ov-chipkaart.nl. |
For sale at various shops
and service points in your region.
www.ov-chipkaart.nl/adresvinder. |
The recommended retail price of both an anonymous and a personal OV-card has been set at € 7,50. Make sure you have enough balance for your trip. A minimum of € 4 for the bus, a minimum of € 10 for the regional train and a minimum of € 20 for the NS if you travel on balance. You can order balance via our webshop.
A personal OV-chipcard is linked to a specific cardholder. When you use a personal OV-chipcard as a ticket, your identity must match the identity on the personal OV-chipcard and if it requires a passport photo, this must be a similar passport photo. You are therefore not allowed to use someone else's personal OV-chipcard.
The rates for traveling with the debit card, creditcard, mobile or OV-chipcard can be found at www.9292.nl:
- Plan a trip via the public transport planner.
- The price for the trip is stated under the public transport advice.
- Click on all ticket types and choose the price of the trip with the OV-chipcard. This is also the price you pay when you travel with your debit or credit card.
When you travel on balance, you pay a base rate plus an amount for each kilometer travelled. An entry fee will first be debited from your balance when you check in. At check-out, the boarding fare will be refunded and the kilometers traveled and the basic fare will be charged. If you transfer within 35 minutes, you only pay the basic fare once. Children (4 to 11 years old) travel for free if accompanied by an adult (18 years or older).
A maximum of 3 children aged 4 to 11 years may travel for free per adult. Children up to 3 years old always travel for free on public transport.
| Entree fee |
Boarding rate |
Syntus Utrecht price per kilometer |
| € 4,00* |
€ 1,12 |
€ 0,193 |
* In our nightbuses the entrance fee is € 8,-.
When you travel with debit or credit card, you don't need to load a balance. But you do have to have sufficient balance in your bank account.
When you travel wit an OV-chipcard you can load a balance on your OV-chipcard in various ways:
- At one of the service points nearby for example, our Service Shop at Amersfoort station.
- You automatically reload balance.
- You order your balance online via our webshop (€ 10, € 20 or € 50) and collect it at one of the above service points.
Everyone misses a checkout sometimes. Did you travel with OVpay (your contactless debit card, credit card or your debit card on your mobile)? Then go to this website.
Did you travel with an OV-chipcard? On uitcheckgemist.nl you can request your balance in three simple steps. You can request a refund for the following situations:
- Forgot to check out.
- Checked in with the wrong operator.
- OV-chipcard check-in/out posts on the platform are broken. Couldn't check out.
- OV-chipcard check-in/out posts in the bus are broken. Couldn't check out.