The Joy of Tikkie

Anouk was convinced that Jeroen was having an affair. He was checking his phone far more than usual. Last thing at night before bed, during and after sex and even while having dinner at six pm!  She was just planning to confront him about this when at 5 am one morning he shouted with joy and gave her a big hug. “Mijn schat! That scharrel (woman) I met on Tinder has finally paid the 1.85 euros she had me pay during our date for a glass of sparkling water. Belachelijk! Het is gewoon water!/Ridiculous, it’s only water. Err, what I meant to say was that she paid my friend who went on a Tinder date…..

Which brings me to the subject of today’s post. The joy of Tikkie.

Back in the dark ages

One of my first memories of living in the Netherlands was standing behind a group of Dutch women at a bar in Amsterdam while they had an incredibly tedious discussion about who drank what and how much they should each pay towards the bill.  That was back in 2004. Prior to the launch of the iPhone and Android smartphones.  More importantly, it was before ABN AMRO launched the greatest app the Dutch Kingdom has ever seen. Tikkie!

If you’re not familiar with this app and others like it, then you obviously have been living in a cave! Tikkie is an app that allows users to request micropayments or payments for any amount via messenger and What’s App. It was only launched by the blue-suited brown shoe wearing geniuses of ABN Amro in 2016 and at the time of writing now has over 5 million users. 

Echt Nederlands!

Its popularity is undoubtedly due to its capturing an important part of Dutch culture and behaviour so well.  ABN Amro also launched a version of Tikkie in Germany, but it just didn’t fit their culture.

There’s nothing more Dutch than going on a date and splitting the bill. In the past, this led to awkward situations, particularly with Dutch and expat dates.  The Joy of Tikkie is that it allows one to be delightfully passive-aggressive. You can invite someone out on a date, let him/her think that you’re incredible for paying the entire bill and then after a couple of dates send them a Tikkie if you don’t end up having sex with them. Lekker makkelijk!

But it’s not only handy for dates. Here are some of the ways that Tikkie is used in the Netherlands.

Netflix

There’s nothing more annoying than those ‘friends’ who come round to your place and take advantage of your Netflix subscription under the guise of ‘keeping you company’. Yeah right!

tikkie for Netflix subscription

Don’t allow your friends to take advantage of you

 

For compensation

A couple spent the night in bed together. The woman unexpectedly menstruated leading to a delightful Tikkie request asking for money to replace bedsheets.

tweet about a tikkie

the joy of tikkie requests shocked woman

He wants me to pay?

The cost of Mayo

Mayonaisse costs money, so in a country where consumption of fries with Mayo is so common, it’s only reasonable to send a Tikkie.

tikkie for mayo

0.25 cent request for use of Mayo

Christmas is a time for sharing

Enjoy your Christmas dinner with your family and then send them a Tikkie to ask them to contribute to the costs. Wat leuk!

Nothing says ‘I’d like to see you again’ better than sending a Tikkie
The tweet below in Dutch tells the story of a woman who half an hour after a first date received a Tikkie request for 8 euros. For two glasses of wine. He also said that he’d like to see her again.

No scharrels were hurt during the writing of this post