You open claude.ai or chatgpt.com, click Upgrade, and the checkout asks for a card number. There is no iDEAL button, no bank transfer option, and usually no PayPal. You try the debit card from your Dutch bank and get "Your card was declined" or "This card type is not supported". If you are in the Netherlands or Belgium and do not own a credit card, this is where most people get stuck.
The fix is not complicated once you understand what the checkout actually wants: a Visa or Mastercard number that clears international, recurring, dollar-denominated charges. Below is the route that works for Dutch users without a credit card, what it costs, and what to do when something goes wrong.
Why iDEAL does not work at Claude and ChatGPT checkouts
iDEAL is the default way to pay online in the Netherlands. It is a bank transfer confirmed in your banking app, and almost every Dutch webshop offers it. During 2025 and 2026 iDEAL is being folded into Wero, the European Payments Initiative wallet, but the idea stays the same: a one-time push payment from your bank account.
That is exactly the problem. A subscription is a pull payment: the merchant charges you every month without you confirming each time. Anthropic and OpenAI run their billing through card processors that need a card network (Visa or Mastercard) to authorise recurring charges. iDEAL, which is becoming Wero, was not built for that, and neither company has added it as a payment method for consumer plans.
So at the checkout you get:
- Card payment: Visa, Mastercard, in some regions American Express.
- Wallets that wrap a card: Apple Pay or Google Pay, but those still need a supported card behind them.
- No iDEAL, no SEPA transfer, no Bancontact, no Tikkie.
Dutch debit cards add a second layer of trouble. Maestro cards are not accepted at all. Newer Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit cards from Dutch banks can work in principle, but banks frequently block foreign recurring charges by default, treat the transaction as high risk, or require you to enable "payments outside Europe" in the app. Even when the first charge goes through, a renewal can fail a month later. The result is the same: no subscription.
The iDEAL route in four steps
The workaround is to use iDEAL where it does work (buying stablecoins on a regulated exchange) and then convert that into a card the AI checkout will accept. The first time takes 15 to 30 minutes, every later top-up a few minutes.
Step 1: Buy USDT with iDEAL on a regulated exchange
Open an account on an exchange that offers iDEAL deposits for Dutch customers. Bitvavo, Coinbase and Kraken have all supported iDEAL or SEPA Instant deposits for EU users; check their current deposit methods before you rely on one, because these lists change. Deposit euros, then buy USDT (Tether) or USDC. Both are dollar stablecoins, so 1 USDT is worth about 1 USD.
Two practical notes:
- Buy a little more than you need. The exchange charges a trading fee or a spread, and you will pay a small withdrawal fee.
- When you withdraw, choose a network the card provider supports. For IZIPAY that is Tron (TRC-20), Ethereum (ERC-20), BNB Chain (BEP-20) or Polygon. Tron is usually the cheapest.
Step 2: Withdraw USDT to IZIPAY
Create an account at IZIPAY. Registration asks for an email address and nothing else: no passport, no selfie, no proof of address. In the dashboard, choose the card you want and the payment screen shows a deposit address plus the exact amount of USDT to send.
Go back to the exchange, select Withdraw, paste the address, pick the matching network and confirm. On Tron the transfer usually lands in a minute or two.
Step 3: Get the virtual card
Once the deposit is confirmed, the card is issued automatically. It typically takes about two minutes. The card number, expiry date and CVV appear in your dashboard and are also sent to your email. There is no plastic to wait for.
The card is a virtual Visa or Mastercard in USD. Read the details on the virtual debit card page if you want to know which merchant categories it covers.
Step 4: Add the card to the Claude or ChatGPT checkout
Open the Claude billing page or the ChatGPT Upgrade dialog and enter the card number, expiry and CVV. For the billing address, use any address in the country your IP is in. If you are in the Netherlands with a Dutch IP, use a Dutch address and postcode. The country on the card and the country of your connection should match, because that is one of the checks Stripe-style processors run.
After the first charge, the subscription renews itself every month. Keep enough balance on the card before the renewal date and you never touch the checkout again. Step-by-step guides with screenshots are in how to pay for ChatGPT with crypto and how to pay for Claude with crypto.
What it costs
There are two sets of costs: what the exchange charges you to turn euros into USDT, and what the card costs. The exchange side depends on where you buy. The card side is fixed.
| Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual card, one-time | from $49.99 | The Apple Pay Mastercard is $59.99 |
| Monthly fee | $0 | No maintenance or inactivity fee |
| Top-up fee | 3% + network fee | Network fee is what the blockchain charges, about $3 on Tron |
| Card currency | USD | Matches the currency Anthropic and OpenAI bill in |
| Supported networks | Tron, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon | Send USDT on any of these |
| Verification | None | Email registration only |
Full details are on the pricing page. The card fee is paid once; after that you only pay the 3% top-up fee plus the network cost each time you add money.
Worked example: three months of Claude Pro or ChatGPT Plus
Claude Pro and ChatGPT Plus both cost $20 per month for the base plan. Say you want to preload the card for three months so you can forget about it.
- Subscription total: 3 x $20 = $60.00
- Top-up fee is 3%, so the amount that lands on the card is 97% of what you send. To land $60.00 you need $60.00 / 0.97 = $61.86
- Network fee on Tron: about $3.00
- USDT to send: $61.86 + $3.00 = about $64.86
Round it up to 65 USDT and you are covered for three renewals with a little spare. If you are starting from zero, the first payment also includes the one-time card fee: $49.99 + about $65 = about $115 in USDT for the card plus three months of Claude Pro. From the fourth month onwards it is just $20 plus roughly 3% and the network fee per top-up, or less per month if you top up several months at once.
One caveat: some checkouts add VAT for EU consumers, so the amount shown on the billing page may be higher than $20. Check the final figure at checkout and top up accordingly.
Which AI services this works for
The card is a standard Visa or Mastercard, so it is not limited to two products. The same route works for:
- Claude (Pro and Max plans, and prepaid API credits at console.anthropic.com). See buy Claude with crypto.
- ChatGPT (Plus and Pro, plus OpenAI API credits). See buy ChatGPT with crypto.
- Gemini through Google One AI plans; Google Play billing accepts the card if the Play country matches your address.
- Perplexity Pro, billed in USD through a card checkout.
- Cursor, the AI code editor, which charges monthly in USD.
- Midjourney, which bills through Stripe and takes standard cards.
Other dollar-billed subscriptions (GitHub Copilot, Notion AI, ElevenLabs, Runway) behave the same way.
Alternatives compared
Crypto is not the only way around a missing credit card. Here is an honest look at the options Dutch users typically try.
| Option | Works for AI subscriptions? | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prepaid Visa from a supermarket | Sometimes | No bank needed, buy it today | Often blocked for recurring foreign charges; many are single-use or EUR only; balance expires |
| Ask a friend or relative abroad | Yes | Zero setup | You depend on someone else every month; awkward for business use |
| Traditional credit card | Yes | Widely accepted, buyer protection | Needs a bank account, income check and BKR registration; application takes weeks; annual fee |
| Revolut or Wise card | Usually | Fast app onboarding, EUR to USD conversion | Full KYC with ID and selfie; some AI merchants intermittently decline these BINs; FX spread on USD charges |
| IZIPAY virtual card via USDT | Yes | No KYC, USD card, issued in minutes, works for recurring charges | One-time card fee; you need to buy USDT first; 3% top-up fee |
If you already have a Revolut or Wise account and it works at the checkout, use it. The crypto route is for people who cannot or do not want to go through a bank, want a card not tied to their identity, or keep getting declined by the options above.
Common problems and fixes
"Your card was declined" at the Claude or ChatGPT checkout. First check the balance: the checkout may pre-authorise a small amount plus the subscription price. Second, check that the billing address country matches your IP country. Third, try the other product: if Claude declines, try adding the card in the ChatGPT checkout to confirm the card itself works. If you are on a VPN, switch it off or set it to the same country as your billing address.
"This payment method is not supported in your region." The checkout compares the card's issuing country, the billing address and your IP. Use a billing address in the country your connection shows and try again. Do not mix a Dutch address with a US VPN exit.
Maestro. It will never work. Maestro is a debit scheme without the recurring billing features these checkouts need. You need a card with a 16-digit Visa or Mastercard number.
Dutch debit card accepted once, then the renewal failed. Your bank has probably blocked the recurring foreign charge or the "card not present" transaction. You can call the bank, or move the subscription to a card that does not have that problem.
The subscription is more than $20. VAT or a higher plan (Claude Max, ChatGPT Pro). Top up to the amount shown on the billing page, not the advertised price.
Sent USDT on the wrong network. Only send on Tron, Ethereum, BNB Chain or Polygon, and only USDT. If you sent on a supported network but chose the wrong one at checkout, contact support in chat with the transaction hash; support is available 24/7.
Euros, dollars and the exchange rate
A common worry is paying twice for currency conversion. Here is how it actually breaks down.
Anthropic and OpenAI bill consumer plans in US dollars. The IZIPAY card is a USD card. When the $20 charge arrives, it is $20, no bank FX surcharge and no dynamic currency conversion. The only conversion happens once, when you buy USDT with euros on the exchange. That exchange takes its own spread or trading fee, which is visible before you confirm the order. Compare that to a Dutch bank card, where the bank converts each monthly charge from USD to EUR at its own rate plus a percentage fee. Over a year, one visible conversion is cheaper and more predictable than twelve invisible ones.
Conclusion
If you are in the Netherlands or Belgium, do not have a credit card, and want Claude Pro or ChatGPT Plus, the working route is: buy USDT with iDEAL on a regulated exchange, send it to IZIPAY, get a virtual USD card in about two minutes, and enter that card at the checkout. No bank application, no documents, and the subscription renews on its own.
Create your IZIPAY account with an email address, top up once for several months, and get back to actually using the tools.