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Trust in financial sector increases

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Trust in the financial sector among Dutch households increased over the past year. This has emerged from a survey of almost 2,100 households conducted by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). The share of respondents who have trust in financial institutions rose from 52% in 2025 to 57% in 2026.

Published: 08 September 2026

Winkelend publiek.

© DNB

Every year, DNB measures Dutch households’ trust in financial institutions, such as banks, pension funds, insurers and other institutions. Trust in DNB and the European Central Bank (ECB) also increased last year. For DNB, this figure stood at 77%. Trust in politics and the civil service also rose, although trust in politics remains relatively low at 25%.

Higher trust in pension funds

Trust in pension funds, in particular, is up sharply. The share of Dutch households with trust in pension funds rose from 55% to 63%. Trust that pension funds will be able to continue paying out pensions also rose, from 51% to 61%.  

The increase coincides with the current transition to the new pension system. More pension funds have now switched to the new system, and awareness of the new system is also growing: six in ten (61%) households say they are at least reasonably familiar with it. In addition, trust in the new system is also growing. 

Trust in banks and insurers shows a mixed picture

Overall trust in banks increased from 56% to 62%, while trust in insurers remained stable at 45%. The trust in the financial health of institutions shows a different picture: this remained stable for banks, while it increased for insurers. The share of households that trust insurers can meet their financial obligations increased to 66%.

Supervision is key to trust

The survey also shows that supervision plays an important role in trust in the financial sector. Six out of ten households say that DNB’s supervision contributes to their trust that financial institutions can meet their obligations. Households also attach great importance to the independence of supervisory authorities: 78% believe it is important for supervisory authorities to be independent of politics. According to 39%, negative comments made by politicians about banks or supervisory authorities have a negative impact on trust in the financial sector. 

Trust in the payment system is high 

For the first time, Dutch households have been asked about their trust in the Dutch payment system. This figure turns out to be high: 74% of those surveyed have trust in the payment system. 

The comments provided by respondents show that this trust stems primarily from positive experiences in day-to-day use of the system. Payments are usually processed quickly and without any problems. In addition, supervision, legislation and the reliability of the underlying infrastructure and networks are often cited as reasons for trust in the payment system. At the same time, households are concerned about cyber attacks, technical outages and the vulnerability arising from the increasing digitalisation of payment transactions. 

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