Virtual Credit Card Service 'boon' Now Available to Apple Pay Customers in France

[MacRumors]

Wirecard launched its mobile payment solution, boon, in France today, allowing iPhone owners to use prepaid virtual credit cards in their Apple Pay wallet.

Launched in the U.K. in May of last year, boon is independent of any bank and offers a pre-paid account with a digital MasterCard that users can top up via wire transfer, debit or credit card. The moble payment app works at any NFC-enabled terminal where the MasterCard contactless logo appears.

"By launching boon with Apple Pay in France, even more users in Europe can experience a new level of mobile payments without being a customer of a specific bank. Thanks to its ease of use and maximum security standards, boon is a state-of-the-art payment solution", said Georg von Waldenfels, Executive Vice President Consumer Solutions with Wirecard.

Users who want to pay with the mobile app boon outside of France, can upgrade to the level "boon. PLUS" which has a maximum top-up limit of 5000 euros and does not include any additional costs.  

Apple Pay became available in France in June of last year, with cards issued by Banque Populaire, Ticket Restaurant, Carrefour Banque, and Caisse d'Epargne available for use on eligible devices.

The boon app is a free download from the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

Article Link: Virtual Credit Card Service 'boon' Now Available to Apple Pay Customers in France

 

[Frederik on MacRumors]

I would switch to another bank to get Apple Pay... unfortunately I live in Germany...

 

[Neg4433]

I would switch to another bank to get Apple Pay... unfortunately I live in Germany...

I'm on the same boat, i doubt that apple will bring any soon Apple Pay in Germany.

 

[steindlmedia]

To those people living in Germany:

You can download the app from the French App Store.

You are then able to enter a German address in the app (You have to upgrade the account to boon. plus)

 

[Robert.Walter]

To those people living in Germany:

You can download the app from the French App Store.

You are then able to enter a German address in the app (You have to upgrade the account to boon. plus)

To download from French App Store you will have to create a new AppleID for the French App Store. Afterward, logout of German App Store and log into the French App Store with new ID. After downloading the app, logout from F and back into D.

 

[Glassed Silver]

To those people living in Germany:

You can download the app from the French App Store.

You are then able to enter a German address in the app (You have to upgrade the account to boon. plus)

That is nice and I appreciate knowing that option as will many others, but personally

a) I don't want another Apple ID just to get a feature a little earlier.
b) This is a pre-paid cc. I'm not a fan of dividing my funds and keeping track of how my money is split and transfering between my accounts, especially considering how slow banks operate in times where everything is automated anyways. (*cough*)

The less banks I have to deal with the better!

Glassed Silver:win

 

[tmiw]

That is nice and I appreciate knowing that option as will many others, but personally

a) I don't want another Apple ID just to get a feature a little earlier.
b) This is a pre-paid cc. I'm not a fan of dividing my funds and keeping track of how my money is split and transfering between my accounts, especially considering how slow banks operate in times where everything is automated anyways. (*cough*)

The less banks I have to deal with the better!

Glassed Silver:win

I thought bank transfers in Europe took at most a day?

 

[JTToft]

That is nice and I appreciate knowing that option as will many others, but personally

a) I don't want another Apple ID just to get a feature a little earlier.
b) This is a pre-paid cc. I'm not a fan of dividing my funds and keeping track of how my money is split and transfering between my accounts, especially considering how slow banks operate in times where everything is automated anyways. (*cough*)

The less banks I have to deal with the better!

Glassed Silver:win

- I worked well here in Denmark for a while when we discovered it could be used for Apple Pay, which isn't otherwise accessible here. Until boon got mad and blocked it for "unsupported use"...

 

[Dephibio]

To those people living in Germany:

You can download the app from the French App Store.

You are then able to enter a German address in the app (You have to upgrade the account to boon. plus)

The question is: can you top up French boon account with a German credit card?

 

[Glassed Silver]

I thought bank transfers in Europe took at most a day?

That's my point.

Ridiculous in a world where I had been sending money to Chinese stores or US-American eBay sellers within seconds.

Why are bank transfers not at least 15 minutes fast? All background checks for a transfer are, as I said, automated anyways.

1 day means if you're lucky and the transfer is PROCESSED by the recipient that following day you're looking at buying things "spontaneously" after planning a day ahead.

Unless of course you like keeping your money split, but I absolutely despise that, so... Thanks, not for me and that is ok. I can wait!

Glassed Silver:win

 

[Neg4433]

So i made a French AppleID and downloaded the App. I installed the App and changed the region to France but left the iPhone language German. Once i opened the App, i registered using my Mobile Number and upgraded to Basic using my German information since boon accepts it. After the upgrade Boon gave me a German IBAN to transfer the money in order to load my account. I just sent 15€ to test it. Fingers crossed.

 

[tabilo]

Why are bank transfers not at least 15 minutes fast? All background checks for a transfer are, as I said, automated anyways.

1 day means if you're lucky and the transfer is PROCESSED by the recipient that following day you're looking at buying things "spontaneously" after planning a day ahead.

Well, I can only speak for Germany, but things are more complex in the background. The German clearing house for SEPA transfers is the Bundesbank and they have operating hours from the morning until the afternoon. They are colecting all batch transfers from all connected banks in a round based scenario and distribute the results to all connected banks afterwards. While most background checks are automated, a hit for certain criterias must result in a manual process in the compliance department, this is legally required. The transfer time is mainly an issue created by the clearing house, not the banks.

SEPA rules clearly state that a transfer must not take longer than t+1 if handed in to the clearing house the same day (afaik before 4pm).

There is a concept for SEPA instant payments that will be in place within the next two years. The real challenge is the support for legacy systems that are really old and can only work with batch transfers.

 

[Glassed Silver]

Well, I can only speak for Germany, but things are more complex in the background. The German clearing house for SEPA transfers is the Bundesbank and they have operating hours from the morning until the afternoon. They are colecting all batch transfers from all connected banks in a round based scenario and distribute the results to all connected banks afterwards. While most background checks are automated, a hit for certain criterias must result in a manual process in the compliance department, this is legally required. The transfer time is mainly an issue created by the clearing house, not the banks.

SEPA rules clearly state that a transfer must not take longer than t+1 if handed in to the clearing house the same day (afaik before 4pm).

There is a concept for SEPA instant payments that will be in place within the next two years. The real challenge is the support for legacy systems that are really old and can only work with batch transfers.

Yes, that is what I mean.

And a machine doesn't have operating hours.
Anything that passes should just be immediate, anything that raises a flag will be checked manually during operating hours.

Paypal does it (although their manual checks are WAAAAAAAY slower granted, but then the non-SEPA zone international transfers for example are much cheaper also)

I see that they seem to be working on something, but this should have been inplace yesteryear.

All that aside, right now I have therefore zero interest in almost any PAYG cards or other things that don't load up immediately. And as for Apple Pay, either it's post-paid CC or a direct debit from my bank account. The whole point of it is that it's fast. (and secure granted, but Paypal is acceptable enough for me in the security department as far as not sending my financial info to the recipient goes)

Glassed Silver:ios

 

[JTToft]

Why are bank transfers not at least 15 minutes fast?

Well, I can only speak for Germany

- Come up north. All Danish banks support instantaneous transfers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 

[Glassed Silver]

- Come up north. All Danish banks support instantaneous transfers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Thanks, the weather is cold and icy enough for my mediterranean mind as it is.

Sometimes I really do wonder if this is where I grew up, I should be living in Italy going by that haha.

Proper weather > fast banks

I appreciate the invitation though.

Glassed Silver:ios

 

[iGeek2014]

In the U.K. most banks and building societies support Faster Payments.

Depending on when you send the transfer a lot of the time it should reach the recipient in two hours.

Boon were added to Apple Pay sometime late 2016 over here and I did download the app to use the card on TfL when I'm in the capital.

App wouldn't accept my number for some reason and I now have to call them to get the service set up... so haven't ever tried it.

 

[Tim Koster]

To those people living in Germany:

You can download the app from the French App Store.

You are then able to enter a German address in the app (You have to upgrade the account to boon. plus)

Does anyone know if this possibility for Germans still exist today ? I did exactly what was described in the posting. I was able to download the app from the French App-Store.when I start the application it says that the service is not available in my region and that I am not able to register. after downloading I switch back the region of my iPhone to Germany.I also tested it and switched the region to French but I became the same failure ( you see it in the attached image) . Perhaps they changed the registration process in the last two days? Do you register via the application? I would be happy if someone could help me.

 

[Neg4433]

Does anyone know if this possibility for Germans still exist today ? I did exactly what was described in the posting. I was able to download the app from the French App-Store.when I start the application it says that the service is not available in my region and that I am not able to register. after downloading I switch back the region of my iPhone to Germany.I also tested it and switched the region to French but I became the same failure ( you see it in the attached image) . Perhaps they changed the registration process in the last two days? Do you register via the application? I would be happy if someone could help me.

No idea, i registered on release and i had no issues, today i used my Deutsche Bank Debit card and loaded money instantly, i am going to Rewe later to test it.

Update: I paid with Apple Pay at Rewe and the cashier was like: Whaaaa?! OMG!

 

[Luiz Claudio Eudes Corrêa]

- I worked well here in Denmark for a while when we discovered it could be used for Apple Pay, which isn't otherwise accessible here. Until boon got mad and blocked it for "unsupported use"...

This also happend with me in Brazil.

 

[wifininja]

Can i use my debit card for transfering money to my boon account ?

No idea, i registered on release and i had no issues, today i used my Deutsche Bank Debit card and loaded money instantly, i am going to Rewe later to test it.

Update: I paid with Apple Pay at Rewe and the cashier was like: Whaaaa?! OMG!

Can you still use your debit card for transferring money to your boon acc.