Bank and payments on Aruba: florin pegged to the dollar, 1.3% on every payment abroad, and the extract the bank wants

Yes, on Aruba you open a local bank account, and you need one: the tax office wants a current account at a local bank for refunds, and your salary and fixed costs run in florin. That florin has been pegged rock-solid to the dollar since the 1986 status aparte, at $ 1 = Afl. 1.79, so dollars and florin are in practice one currency on the island. What the bank wants to see from you is on two government pages: the cedula is the identity document "at bank transactions", and the extract from the population register (Afl. 5, immediately at the counter) is the document you present when "opening a bank account". The find is at the Central Bank: under the National Ordinance on the Foreign Exchange Commission you pay, as a resident, 1.3% on every payment abroad, also to your own Dutch account. The pitfall is therefore not opening the account, but shifting money back and forth: whoever converts euros into florin and later sends them back pays the commission on the way out.

What do I need to open an account?

The government names two documents. The cedula, the identity card you collect after your registration at Censo, and which according to the government page "is much used in daily traffic, for example for identification at bank transactions". And the extract from the population register, which you collect by appointment at the head office or without appointment at a district office, for Afl. 5, cash or card, and receive immediately. Which additional papers a bank asks for (payslips, contract, pension statement) is not on a government page; it differs per bank, so ask two banks and choose the shortest list. A basic payment account as a right, as in the EU, does not yet exist on Aruba: in 2024 the council of ministers approved a draft ordinance that "guarantees that all citizens and businesses can open a basic bank account", and that lies with the Advisory Council and Parliament.

Item	What applies
Rate	$ 1 = Afl. 1.79, fixed since 1986
Identification at the bank	cedula (after registration at Censo)
Proof of registration	extract from the population register, Afl. 5, immediately at the counter
Foreign exchange commission	1.3% on the florin equivalent of payments abroad and to non-resident accounts
Incoming transfers	general licence for all transfers by natural persons from their own foreign account (since 1 January 2024)
Account at the tax office	current account at a local bank, given with the personal number; refunds go there

What is the foreign exchange commission, and when do I pay it?

Aruba regulates payments with abroad through the Central Bank. Article 2 of the National Ordinance on the Foreign Exchange Commission imposes on residents a levy of 1.3% on their payments abroad and to non-resident accounts at the local banks: the purchase of foreign currency, payments for goods and services, interest and principal on loans, dividends, and for example deposits to a child's student account in the Netherlands. The currency does not matter; the commission is calculated on the florin equivalent at the official selling rate. Money coming to Aruba goes the other way: since 1 January 2024 a general foreign exchange licence applies to all incoming transfers by natural persons from their own foreign account, and to the purchase and sale of real estate. Transferring your pension or savings to Aruba is therefore free; sending it back costs 1.3%.

What do I keep in the Netherlands?

Everything that runs in euros: your AOW or pension, the rent of a house you kept, the M refund and the payments to Dutch bodies. Aruba falls outside SEPA, so every transfer between the two accounts is an international payment with the bank's costs and, in the direction of the Netherlands, the 1.3% commission. The usual set-up is therefore: live locally in florin, leave the euro matters on the Dutch account, and shift as little as possible back and forth. How you keep that Dutch account and your DigiD alive is in keeping a bank account and DigiD.

What is the pitfall?

The chain forces the order: DIMAS, Censo, cedula, extract, bank, personal number. Whoever has to pay a deposit in florin on day one still does so from the Dutch account; make sure that card can handle foreign payments and that your bank knows you are on Aruba. And do not move your whole capital over: what you want back later costs 1.3% on the way out.

What you cannot look up with the government: the banks' own tariffs and the cost of a transfer. Ask about those explicitly; the cost indication for Aruba works through the first months in euros, the bank counts in florin after that.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.5: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Aruba or go straight to step 4.5 in the open plan.