Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
69,065
40,100


boon-card-apple-pay.jpg
Mobile banking service Boon today announced it will be discontinuing service on October 3, 2020, as noted by iPhone-Ticker.de. Boon was an Apple Pay partner in several European countries, offering virtual credit cards for contactless payments.

This news comes shortly after Boon's parent company Wirecard filed for insolvency following a series of accounting scandals.

Boon has shared a FAQ with more details for customers.
There's still money in your boon.Account?

Then we recommend the following steps:

Spend all your funds in a timely manner
To make sure that you have the exact amount to pay for whatever you’d like to spend your money on, top up your account with the missing difference
You can use your boon.Card to pay online or contactless in shops just like you’re used to
As soon as your account balance is 0 and all transactions are being shown as “processed”, you can close your account yourself with the push of a button
To make sure you don’t inadvertently top up your account, we have already deactivated the auto top-up feature for you.

Of course, your service team can also return any remaining funds to your bank account directly. Please bear in mind, though, that our service team is already dealing with a high number of requests. We’re counting on your support and cooperation, so that you don’t have to wait for your money and our colleagues can focus on those customers, for whom this doesn’t work as smoothly as we expect

How long is the app still working?

You will likely have until 3rd of October 2020 to clear your boon.Account, but even following this date, you are entitled to get your money back. From 4th of October 2020, we will charge a monthly fee of 2.50 €/GBP/CHF on existing credit until it is completely used up. Therefore, please use it up promptly. Please have a look at our FAQs for more information.

Article Link: Apple Pay Partner Boon Shutting Down in October
 

The only way I can make that work in my head is to buy something, pay it off within the return period, and then return the item without making an equivalent valued purchase. I mean, sure... I get that likely happens, but it can't be that common.
 
The only way I can make that work in my head is to buy something, pay it off within the return period, and then return the item without making an equivalent valued purchase. I mean, sure... I get that likely happens, but it can't be that common.

Happens to me all the time, my CC balances are generally low and I pay them off every time I get paid. If I return something and some websites can take a couple of days to process a mail-in return, so by the time they give me the refund, my CC already has a zero balance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: omglolbbq
Happens to me all the time, my CC balances are generally low and I pay them off every time I get paid. If I return something and some websites can take a couple of days to process a mail-in return, so by the time they give me the refund, my CC already has a zero balance.

Sure, but I suspect you have a atypical respect for debt that most people don't share.
 
Like said above, you go to a bank in Germany and you want a credit card, you would be told you have one already (aka your debit card). Or they give you a 500€ balance which you just pre-finance.
Anyway, I used boon for a few months when I had a card without Apple Pay access. Now the card is on Apple Pay so this closure is one less app on my phone. They can have my 0.40€ bal.
 
Boon was pretty handy in the early days, if your card issuer didn’t support Apple Pay (Virgin Atlantic!!) you could connect your non Apple Pay card to auto top up your virtual boon card. Was a nice workaround. RIP
 
Why would you have a balance to spend on a credit card?
Returns.
People not willing to live on credit (therefore adding cash to their credit card account).
People who have to make a purchase higher than their spending limit (therefore adding cash to their credit card account).
 
Probably good to note that while the "boon." service (prepaid card) is shutting down, "boon.PLANET" (bank account with debit card) is NOT.
 
This article would seem to potentially dispute your statement: https://isaan.live/news/wirecard-fallout-hits-a-number-of-fintechs-and-their-customers/

Mind providing info as to why you feel they'll not be affected?

I don't see a date on that article but it seems to be just speculation from right after the Wirecard debacle. There's no concrete info on Wirecard Bank AG whatsoever in it, so I don't where it can potentially dispute anything. It doesn't claim anything.

I stated this because I read the linked article: https://www.beboon.com/de/en/news/exclusive/boon-says-goodbye Where it says

Please note: this message only affects boon. (virtual prepaid Mastercard) and not the banking app boon.PLANET. Should there be any changes to this, we will inform you in time.

Will boon.PLANET be impacted at some point? Maybe. But today's news is about the product "boon." only.
 
Used Boon. before Apple support came to Norway. Today I recommend Curve https://www.curve.com to my friends with non-supporting cards/banks and want Apple Pay without waiting for support.

One advantage with Curve over Boon. is that funds are debited directly from your linked card, so no need to topup a virtual card.
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.