What is going on
It concerns cards issued by US banks. When a guest pays with such a card at a coffeeshop that takes card payments through Worldline, the payment does not go through. According to the Bond van Cannabis Detaillisten (BCD), cards are blocked at around a hundred coffeeshops, and many of those businesses also received a termination of their service. Worldline also reserves the right to block other foreign cards later on.
This is not the first clash. In March 2026 the court barred Worldline from terminating coffeeshops' card-payment contracts: refusing an entire sector without individual assessment is not simply allowed. What that ruling said, you read in our article on the Worldline case. The terminations carried on regardless. In July Cannabis Industrie reported that the number of terminations known to the BCD had passed 90.
What Worldline argues
Worldline relies mainly on the residence criterion. Coffeeshops may not sell to people who are not resident in the Netherlands, and according to Worldline someone paying with a US card usually is not. The company also points to US law and to the position of US banks, and calls payments with US cards considerably riskier than payments with cards from other countries. Worldline further cites the rules of Visa and Mastercard, the Wwft, the Dutch anti-money laundering act, and its own terms and conditions.
What the coffeeshops say
The coffeeshops, backed by the BCD, see it differently. In their view the US rules concern financial services to cannabis businesses. They do not automatically make a payment by a US consumer at a Dutch coffeeshop unlawful. Visa and Mastercard are said to have indicated that their rules are no obstacle, and Worldline has not produced a concrete instruction from either of them to block US cards. Which party in the chain obliges Worldline to block these cards is still unclear, according to the BCD.
In the background is what the Dutch Minister of Finance wrote on 9 July: the Wwft leaves no room to refuse groups of customers categorically.
Which party in the chain obliges Worldline to block these cards is still unclear, according to the BCD.
What the court signalled
There is no ruling yet. During the hearing, however, the judge questioned the reliance on the residence criterion, partly because none of the coffeeshops involved is located in a border municipality. What that means for the outcome is impossible to say. The ruling is expected within about two weeks of the hearing. As soon as it is out, we will update this article.
What you can do now as a coffeeshop
You do not have to wait for the ruling to strengthen your position. Four things that make sense now.
- Keep a record. Note when cards are declined and which cards they are, and keep your terminal messages and the messages from your payment provider. You will need them if you object.
- Ask for the concrete reason. If you receive a block or a termination, ask in writing what it is based on. Whether it concerns your business or the whole sector makes a difference, as the March ruling showed.
- Report it to the BCD. The BCD collects reports from affected coffeeshops and backs the cases against Worldline.
- Set up a second route. If your card acceptance depends on a single payment provider, start looking further now. Ask another provider up front which cards are accepted at your business, foreign ones included, so you know where you stand. LunaPay works with multiple licensed European acquirers. For each sector we decide together whether a second acquirer stands ready as a backup from the start, and if an acquirer stops serving your sector, we move you to another licensed partner.
How switching works for coffeeshops and what you need to provide is on our switching page for coffeeshops.