Picture yourself visiting a coffeeshop in the Netherlands. You've picked out your weed, reach for your bank card and expect to pay like you would anywhere else. Simple enough, right? Not according to payment company Worldline, which started blocking transactions involving American cards at coffeeshops earlier this year. Worldline argued that these payments could clash with Dutch rules on cannabis sales to non-residents. Technically, the Netherlands has a residents-only rule, although enforcement varies by municipality. Suddenly, a perfectly ordinary card terminal had become the centre of a legal argument. The coffeeshops weren't impressed and went back to court.
This wasn't their first run-in with Worldline. Back in March, the company had already tried to terminate payment agreements with coffeeshops, only for a judge to intervene. This time, the fight was about foreign cards, particularly those issued in the United States. Worldline pointed to regulations, banking requirements and potential risks. The court in central Netherlands wasn't persuaded. Visa and Mastercard had also made clear they continued to support payments at Dutch coffeeshops under their existing policies. On October 19, the court ordered Worldline to lift the restrictions for the coffeeshops involved within 72 hours of the ruling being formally served.
Here's the irony. Dutch authorities want businesses to keep their finances transparent, yet cutting off card payments pushes more transactions towards cash. Not exactly helpful when you're trying to keep money laundering risks under control. The Dutch cannabis retailers' association has been raising that issue for some time. The legal dispute isn't entirely over, though. This was an interim ruling, not a final decision in the main case. For the coffeeshops involved, it's another victory. Still, having to go to court twice just so customers can pay by card says plenty about how complicated the Netherlands can make a fairly ordinary transaction.
