# City pass, local voucher or gift card — a replacement after Groupcard City pass & local voucher # Your city pass back, with the money in your own account Groupcard collapsed and took the balances of more than a hundred Dutch municipalities with it. MijnEvent is not a card network but software: your municipality, business association or BID issues the pass itself — under your own name, with the balance in your own account. [Book a call](https://mijnevent.app/en/contact) [See the module](https://mijnevent.app/en/modules/city-cards) Video in Dutch. Two minutes: how a municipality, business association or region issues its own pass. Short answer ## What is a city pass, and how do you issue one after Groupcard? A city pass is a card in the name of a municipality, business association or region that lets residents spend locally — as credit in euros, as discounts, or both. Since Groupcard B.V. went bankrupt on 1 July 2025, roughly €14 million in balances evaporated across more than a hundred municipalities and issuers have been looking for a replacement. MijnEvent supplies software rather than a card network: your organisation issues the pass under its own name and branding, residents buy or top up with iDEAL | Wero, and that money lands straight in the issuer's own Mollie account — never in a platform's pooled account. Shops redeem with their own scanning app, and you see per shop what needs to be paid out. Cost: a limited-time €499 per year (regular €1,250) plus €0.35 per issued or topped-up pass. # In short - Groupcard B.V. went bankrupt on 1 July 2025; roughly €14 million in card balances evaporated across an estimated third of all Dutch municipalities. - The third-party foundation meant to protect those balances turned out to offer no protection in practice, and a licence from the Dutch central bank was missing. - With MijnEvent the balance sits in the issuer's own account from the first second — there is no central pot that can collapse. - A city pass and a local voucher are not the same thing: one is a card with discounts and eligibility rules, the other is prepaid credit in euros. The credit model is live today; the discount pass arrives later this year as an extension on top of it. - No pass in your town yet? Then it starts with a name — "the Havelte Pass" is just as good a start as a pass that has existed for twenty years. What happened ## Groupcard: how €14 million in local credit disappeared Not to kick a company while it is down, but because every issuer now looking for a replacement should carry this lesson into their requirements. €14m in card balances that evaporated ± 1 in 3 Dutch municipalities affected (VNG estimate) 120+ municipalities that organised jointly (NOS) 1 July 2025 date of the bankruptcy The Netherlands has 342 municipalities. The VNG estimated around 114 were affected; more than 120 municipalities went on to organise jointly. An official list of names was never published. For years Groupcard was the party behind dozens of local gift cards, carer passes, volunteer passes and municipal white-goods and insulation schemes. Municipalities bought passes — often with public money — and handed them to informal carers, volunteers and residents on a low income. On 1 July 2025 Groupcard B.V. was declared bankrupt, shortly followed by its sister companies. A restart failed. Passes that worked fine the day before were worth nothing overnight. ## There was a third-party foundation The balances were held by a separate foundation — on paper exactly the construction that should have protected cardholders and shopkeepers. The trustee concluded, however, that this money appears to have been used for years to cover the company's own losses. The protection existed on paper, not in practice. ## The licence was missing Anyone holding other people's balances at this scale needs a licence as an electronic money institution according to the Dutch central bank (DNB). Groupcard did not have one and never applied for one. ## No official list was ever published The national government stated it had no overview of affected municipalities. The VNG estimated roughly a third of the 342 municipalities; broadcaster NOS reported more than 120 municipalities joining forces. Exactly which municipalities those are has never been made public — so anyone looking for a replacement is largely on their own. ## The lesson is structural, not incidental The lesson is not "this one company did a bad job". As soon as card balances sit centrally with a platform or its foundation, you depend on how well that platform manages them — and from the outside you have almost no visibility. A third-party foundation is a promise, not a guarantee. Sources for these figures (Dutch): - [ NOS — municipalities hold the director liable ](https://nos.nl/artikel/2581629-gemeenten-organiseren-zich-om-directeur-bedrijf-cadeaupassen-aansprakelijk-te-stellen) - [ NOS — card company had no licence ](https://nos.nl/artikel/2577207-failliet-bedrijf-achter-cadeaupassen-had-geen-vergunning-geld-lijkt-weg) - [ Divosa — bankruptcy hits a third of all municipalities ](https://www.divosa.nl/nieuws/faillissement-groupcard-treft-derde-van-alle-gemeenten-wat-nu) - [ Binnenlands Bestuur — the scale of the bankruptcy ](https://www.binnenlandsbestuur.nl/sociaal/failliet-groupcard-treft-derde-van-alle-gemeenten) - [ Dutch government — answers to parliamentary questions ](https://open.overheid.nl/documenten/686fd466-1d1f-44bc-9418-1c34451c5727/file) Telling them apart ## A city pass, a local voucher and a gift card are three different things The terms get used interchangeably — including in tenders — which produces quotes that cannot be compared. This is the distinction that matters. Card with entitlements ### City pass (participation pass) A municipal card for a specific group — residents on a low income, informal carers, volunteers, children. The holder gets discounts at participating providers, often combined with an annual budget or child allowance. The municipality decides who is eligible. Recognisable as: Rotterdampas, Stadjerspas, ZaansePas, Westlandpas, Vrijstad Culemborgpas Credit in euros ### Local voucher, regional voucher or local gift card Prepaid credit in euros under the name of your town, spendable at every participating business. Anyone can buy or receive one — no eligibility, no assessment. A municipality or association can also hand it out as a reward or allowance, and then it looks a lot like a city pass. Recognisable as: Meppelpas, Westeinderpas, Nunspeet Kadopas, Almelo Kadobon, Amstelveens Cadeau One organisation ### Gift card for a single organisation Credit that only works at your own till: the theatre, the sports club, the festival. No network of shops, no payouts to third parties. Simpler to run, but it does not keep spending power in the whole town. Included in MijnEvent as standard, no module needed ## What is live today — and what arrives this year Extension in 2026 The Local vouchers & city cards module delivers the credit model today: a pass in the name of your town, with a balance in euros, redeemable at every participating business, toppable up and with payouts per shop. Municipalities widely use that model as a carer, volunteer or low-income pass: you load an amount and hand it to the group you define yourself. The classic discount pass — discount percentages per participating provider and eligibility checks — is an extension launching later this year, on top of everything that already exists. Is your tender or requirement list ahead of that? Tell us how your scheme works and we will align the planning and the setup, and say honestly what is already possible today. How it works ## From picking a name to paying out the shop Six steps. Not a card network you join, but your own programme that you keep in hand. 1 ### You pick a name and branding The pass is named after your town — the Meppelpas, the Havelte Pass, your BID's voucher. Your own logo, colours and order page on your own subdomain or your own domain. 2 ### You sign up the shops You invite businesses by email. Each shop sets its own PIN and gets a scanning app on a phone or tablet — no extra hardware, no till integration. 3 ### Residents buy or receive the pass Bought online with iDEAL | Wero on your own page, or handed over physically. An email address is not required: a handed-out pass works without an account. 4 ### Spending at participating businesses The shop scans the QR or types the code, sees the balance and redeems an amount — in parts if needed. Double redemption is technically impossible; the remaining balance simply stays. 5 ### Topping up keeps the pass alive Scan the QR or type the code on the public page, pick an amount and pay. An empty or expired pass is instantly usable again and its validity is extended — at no cost to the holder. 6 ### You pay out the shops The dashboard shows per shop what was redeemed and what needs to be paid out. Settle with one click and the shop is notified automatically. The money goes from your account to the shop — nobody sits in between. See it work ## Issuing, buying, redeeming and topping up — on screen Four short screen recordings from the real system — no mock-ups. Ninety seconds in total. Video in Dutch. ## Issuing a local voucher or city pass for your town From creating the programme to the first pass: name, branding, value and validity set in the dashboard. Video in Dutch. ## Buying and spending a voucher as a resident The public page: buy with iDEAL | Wero, check the balance and see which businesses take part. Video in Dutch. ## Redeeming a voucher as a shopkeeper Log in with email and PIN, scan the QR, see the balance and redeem an amount — including part of it. Video in Dutch. ## Topping up a pass and adding credit Check the balance and add credit to an existing pass — even when it is empty or expired. The screens ## What the resident, the shopkeeper and the treasurer see Three roles, three screens — and one set of records feeding all of them. ![Public city voucher page with a buy button, balance check and overview of participating shops](https://regify-mijnevent.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/blog/screenshots/stadsbon.webp) The public page: buy, check the balance, top up and see participating businesses with their logos. ![Screen to check a city pass balance and add credit](https://regify-mijnevent.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/blog/screenshots/stadsbon-opwaarderen-saldo.webp) Topping up: check the balance and add credit right away — even on an empty or expired pass. ![Login screen of the shop app with email address and PIN](https://regify-mijnevent.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/blog/screenshots/winkel-inloggen.webp) Every shop logs in with email and PIN and scans from its own phone. ![Admin dashboard showing payouts per shop and charts of sales and spending](https://regify-mijnevent.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/blog/screenshots/beheer-stadsbon.webp) The dashboard: payout per shop, charts and spending per business. Where the money sits ## The question that belongs at the top of every requirement list after Groupcard Not which features a platform has, but whose account holds the balance between purchase and spending. 1 ### The resident pays A resident buys a pass or tops one up with iDEAL | Wero. The amount lands directly in the issuing organisation's own Mollie account — and from there in its own bank account. Mollie is a payment service provider regulated by the Dutch central bank. 2 ### MijnEvent only takes its fee We settle nothing but our module fee through Mollie. We never hold the balance itself; there is no pooled account and no intermediary foundation. 3 ### The shop redeems Only at that moment does that shop acquire a claim. In the dashboard you see per business exactly what was spent and what still needs to be paid out. 4 ### You pay out The issuing organisation pays the shops itself, from its own account. One click per shop, with an automatic notification to the business. What that means ## Why a second Groupcard cannot happen here At Groupcard €14 million evaporated because one central party managed the balances of more than a hundred municipalities at once. If that party falls, everything falls. In this model that central pot simply does not exist: the balance of every pass sits with the organisation that issued it, in its own town. Two towns never share one pot. If MijnEvent stopped existing tomorrow, that would be annoying for the software — but the money and the records are already with you. A platform bankruptcy cannot touch the value of the passes, because the platform never held that value. ## The honest downside Because the money sits with your organisation, your organisation also does the payouts. The treasurer gains a recurring chore. The dashboard makes that chore as small as possible — per shop the outstanding amount is ready and settling takes one click — but it is work a central card platform would take off your hands. In return, you never have to wait and see what someone else does with your money. ## Three rules that keep the float healthy - A separate account or earmarked balance, always covering 100% of the outstanding credit. - A fixed, short payout rhythm towards the shops — monthly, for instance. - Oversight by your own audit committee, board or council: the bank balance must reconcile with the credit records in the dashboard at any moment. ## And the licence question? Dutch payment law has an exemption designed precisely for this kind of card: the limited network exclusion (PSD2, implemented in the Dutch Financial Supervision Act). A payment instrument usable only within a limited network of providers — every shop has a direct contract with the issuer, the network is confined to one town or area, and the pass cannot be exchanged for cash — falls outside the licensing requirement; DNB names gift cards as an example itself. One hard limit: once total spending value exceeds €1 million per twelve months, a notification duty towards DNB applies, after which DNB assesses whether the network really is "limited". - [ DNB — services that do not require a licence ](https://www.dnb.nl/voor-de-sector/open-boek-toezicht/sectoren/betaalinstellingen/vergunningaanvraag-betaaldiensten-overzichtspagina/diensten-waarvoor-geen-vergunning-nodig-is/) - [ DNB — procedure for notifying an exclusion ](https://www.dnb.nl/voor-de-sector/open-boek-toezicht/wet-regelgeving/psd2/procedure-voor-het-melden-van-een-uitzondering/) This is general information, not legal advice. Whether the exclusion applies in your situation depends on how your programme is set up — have it reviewed by a lawyer or put it to DNB before you start. What we can say with certainty is where the money sits: with you. The models side by side ## Join a card network, or issue your own pass Two legitimate routes with one fundamental difference: where the balance sits. Stadsie is the best-known provider of the first model; MijnEvent supplies the second. Join a card network, or issue your own pass Topic Central card platform (e.g. Stadsie) MijnEvent Who issues the pass The platform; your town joins the existing card programme Your organisation, under its own name and branding Where the balance sits With a central third-party foundation of the platform In the issuing organisation's own (Mollie) account Who pays the shops The platform, from the central foundation The issuer, via the payout overview per shop If the platform stops Depends on the foundation and the wind-up Money and records are already with you; the pass keeps its value Sales channel The platform's central web shop Your own order page, on your own subdomain or domain Empty or expired pass Often limited extension, sometimes against an administration fee taken from the balance Topping up reactivates the pass and extends validity — at no cost to the holder Work for the treasurer Minimal: the platform handles payouts You pay out yourself — one click per shop, with automatic notification Pricing Usually on quotation, not published Public: a limited-time €499 per year (regular €1,250) + €0.35 per pass + €0.05 per redemption Spendable at The businesses the platform has signed up The businesses you sign up ## What the other model does well Fair is fair: an established card network like Stadsie has built something you cannot replicate in a month. By its own account that is more than 800 participating shops and hospitality venues across twelve cities, over 100,000 gift cards sold and some €3.5 million in local spending. And the principle that cards are only spendable at local businesses — no chains — we wholeheartedly share. If you want to join a proven network quickly and have no objection to the balance being managed centrally, that is a perfectly good route. Our conviction is simply that a local pass is only truly local when the money is local too — from the first second, not only after payout. ## Six questions for every provider (including us) - Where exactly does the balance sit — with which legal entity, in which account? - Who governs that entity and who supervises it? - Is there a DNB licence, or does an exemption apply? Groupcard had neither in order. - What happens to balances and payouts if the platform stops? - How often and how quickly are shopkeepers paid, and who performs that? - Can the issuing organisation access the records itself, in real time? To be clear: this page does not claim that anything is going wrong financially at Stadsie or any other provider — there is no indication of that whatsoever. It is about the architecture of the money flow: who depends on whom, and what happens if a platform — any platform — ever falls over. Groupcard had a third-party foundation too. Switching ## From a dead pass to a working pass What a municipality, business association or BID actually has to do to get a running programme again. 1 ### Decide what you restore A dead pass from a bankrupt issuer cannot technically be "restored" — that balance is a claim in a bankruptcy. What you can do is compensate holders with a new pass worth their old balance. Many municipalities chose that route. So first decide which group you compensate and with what amount. 2 ### Collect the balances you still have From the old records, an export or your own issuance list: who held which pass and for what amount. A simple list with name, email address (or postal address) and amount is enough to issue new passes. 3 ### Sign the shops up again Usually the same businesses as before. Each shop gets an email invitation, sets its own PIN and can scan immediately — no hardware, no installation. 4 ### Put your own programme live Name, branding, value, validity period and the order page. If you want your own domain instead of a subdomain, that is available as bespoke work. 5 ### Issue the new passes Digitally by email (with Apple Wallet or Google Wallet) or handed over physically. From that moment every euro runs through your own account and the dashboard shows what to pay out per shop. Outstanding claims against a bankrupt issuer run through the trustee and are separate from a new programme. We are not a party in that wind-up and give no advice on it — we make sure the new programme is up quickly and safely. No pass yet? ## Then it starts with a name A pass does not need twenty years of history. The Meppelpas also started as an idea with a name — and "the Havelte Pass" rolls off the tongue just as well. Every town names it differently — **Meppelpas**, **Westeinderpas**, **Almelo Kadobon**, **Amstelveens Cadeau**, **Cadeaukaart Gemeente Barneveld**, **Vrijstad Culemborgpas**, **Deventer Doet Pas**, **Nunspeet Kadopas**, **Rijssen-Holten Pas**, **Samen in Steenbergen Pas**, **Zin in Zevenaar-cadeaukaart**, **ZwijndrechtPas**, to name a few. Pass, voucher or gift card: the name follows the town, the technology underneath is the same. Name of your village, town or region For example Havelte, Ruinen or South-West Drenthe. Nothing is stored or sent. Show names Names for Havelte: - The Havelte Pass - Havelte Pass - Havelte Gift Card - The Havelte Voucher - Discover Havelte voucher - Heart of Havelte pass - Regional voucher Havelte - Havelte Card Whichever name you pick, the technology underneath is the same. Pass, voucher, card or gift card — it is one programme with credit, participating shops and a payout overview. Who it is for ## Who issues a city pass or regional voucher? Four kinds of issuer, one model — and in all four cases the money sits with the issuer. ## Municipalities For informal carers, volunteers, low-income schemes or an energy and white-goods allowance. An amount on a pass, spendable at local businesses instead of a web shop far away. ## Business and trade associations The classic local gift card: spending power that stays in your own centre, with a payout overview the treasurer can actually work with. ## BIDs and town-centre management A voucher covering the whole designated area, with every participant's logo on the public page and figures per business in the dashboard. ## Regional initiatives Several villages under one name: a regional voucher that connects them and keeps the money in the region. What it costs ## Public pricing, no quotation secrecy You know up front what you pay — and never a percentage of the value of the passes. €499 per year ### Setup and use Limited-time price; regular €1,250 per year. Includes your own programme, branding, public page and shop apps. €0.35 per pass ### Per issued or topped-up pass From 10,000 passes in twelve months €0.28, from 50,000 €0.21 — custom above that. A rolling twelve-month window, not a calendar year. €0.05 per redemption ### Carried by the shop Settled against the payout to the shop that redeemed: ten redemptions means €0.50 less paid out. The issuer passes it on with the next pass. On top of that Mollie charges its own transaction fees on the payments; those run directly through your own Mollie account. A percentage of the pass value never goes to MijnEvent. [See all pricing](https://mijnevent.app/en/pricing) Frequently asked questions ## Frequently asked questions about city passes and local vouchers ## What is the difference between a city pass and a local voucher? A city pass (participation pass) is a municipal card for a specific group, with discounts at participating providers and often an annual budget; the municipality decides who is eligible. A local voucher, regional voucher or local gift card is prepaid credit in euros that anyone can buy or receive and that is spendable at every participating business. MijnEvent supplies the credit model today; the discount pass with percentages per provider and eligibility checks launches later this year as an extension. ## Can we set discounts per provider, like a classic city pass? That is the discount pass extension: discount percentages per participating business and eligibility checks, on top of the credit model that already exists. The extension launches later this year (2026). If your tender or requirement list is ahead of that, let us know and we will align the planning and the setup with you. ## Our pass ran through Groupcard and stopped. Can you restore it? Nobody can restore the old balance: that is a claim in the bankruptcy and runs through the trustee. What you can do is compensate holders with a new pass worth their old balance, on your own programme. All you need is a list of who held what amount. ## Could a MijnEvent bankruptcy affect the value of our passes? No. The money and the records already sit with your organisation: residents pay straight into your own Mollie account and you pay the shops yourself. There is no central pot and no intermediary foundation. If the platform stopped, the pass would keep its value, because the platform never held that balance. ## Do we as issuer need a licence from DNB? Usually not: this kind of pass generally falls under the limited network exclusion in PSD2 and Dutch financial law, with a notification duty towards DNB once spending value exceeds €1 million per twelve months. This is general information, not legal advice — have it reviewed by a lawyer or put it to DNB before you start. ## How do shops redeem a pass? Every shop gets its own scanning app with email and PIN: scan the QR or type the code, see the balance and redeem an amount — in parts if needed. Double redemption is technically impossible and the remaining balance simply stays. No extra hardware or till integration is required. ## How are the shops paid out? The dashboard shows per shop what was redeemed and what needs to be paid out — the redeemed amount less €0.05 per redemption. You settle it with one click and the shop is notified automatically. The money goes from your account to the shop; nobody sits in between. ## Does the pass work without an email address, for people without a smartphone? Yes. A pass can be handed over physically and then works without an account or email address: the shop scans the QR or types the code. Anyone who does leave an email address is automatically sent the remaining balance after each purchase and finds their passes in their own account. ## What happens to an expired or empty pass? Passes are valid for 24 months by default. Topping up reactivates an empty or expired pass and extends its validity — at no cost to the holder. Scan or type the code on the public page, pick an amount and pay. ## Can we use our own name, branding and domain? Yes. The pass is named after your town and carries your own logo, colours and sponsors. By default the public page lives on your own subdomain; a fully own domain is available as bespoke work. ## How quickly can we go live? The programme itself is up in half a day: name, branding, value and validity. The lead time usually sits in signing up the businesses and in your own decision-making — not in the technology. ## Can we use the pass for informal carers or a low-income scheme? Yes, that is one of the most common uses: you load an amount onto the pass and hand it to the group you define. The pass then acts as an allowance that can only be spent locally. Automatic eligibility checks belong to the discount pass extension launching later this year. ## What does your own city pass cost? A limited-time €499 per year (regular €1,250) plus €0.35 per issued or topped-up pass. From 10,000 passes in twelve months that fee drops to €0.28 and from 50,000 to €0.21. On top of that €0.05 per redemption, carried by the shop that redeems. Never a percentage of the value of the passes. Further reading ## More about city passes and local vouchers [ **The Local vouchers & city cards module** All features, screens and pricing of the module itself. ](https://mijnevent.app/en/modules/city-cards) [ **The Groupcard bankruptcy — what MijnEvent does differently** The two money flows side by side, step by step. ](https://mijnevent.app/en/blog/groupcard-bankruptcy-what-mijnevent-does-differently) [ **MijnEvent or Stadsie for your local voucher?** The comparison in detail, including the licence question. ](https://mijnevent.app/en/blog/city-card-platform-mijnevent-or-stadsie) [ **Issuing a local voucher for your town** From creating the programme to the first pass in hand. ](https://mijnevent.app/en/blog/city-voucher-for-your-town) [ **Redeeming a voucher as a shopkeeper** How the scanning app works at the counter. ](https://mijnevent.app/en/blog/redeeming-a-city-voucher-as-a-shop) [ **White-label city card on your own domain** When an own domain pays off, and what it involves. ](https://mijnevent.app/en/blog/white-label-city-card-own-domain) # Accountability and sources This page names existing passes and providers — from the Meppelpas to Stadsie. That is meant as recognition and information, not as a judgement: the figures on the bankruptcy come from public sources (news reports, council documents and official schemes), and the organisations named are not affiliated with MijnEvent. A mention therefore implies no cooperation and no endorsement. Is something incorrect, or would you like a mention adjusted or removed? Email us and we will change it. [ Submit a correction ](mailto:versus@mijnevent.nl?subject=Correction%20to%20the%20MijnEvent%20city%20pass%20page&body=Hello%20MijnEvent%2C%0A%0ASomething%20on%20this%20page%20needs%20to%20be%20adjusted%3A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fmijnevent.app%2Fen%2Fissue-a-city-pass%0A%0AIt%20concerns%3A%0A%0A%0AKind%20regards%2C) # Want to talk about a pass for your town? Tell us what you had, what you want to restore or what you want to start. We will say honestly what is standard and what is bespoke. [Get in touch](https://mijnevent.app/en/contact) [See the module](https://mijnevent.app/en/modules/city-cards)