Wirecard Rolls Out boon Mobile Payment Service In France

Wirecard, the digital payment company, announced Tuesday (Jan. 17) it is rolling out its mobile payment solution, boon, in France.

In a press release, Wirecard said that, after initially launching boon in the U.K. market in May, it is now rolling it out to France, making it the first market within the euro area in which people can use boon with Apple Pay. According to Wirecard, boon is based on an automatic app-to-wallet integration via a prepaid account with a digital Mastercard, issued by Wirecard Card Solutions. This enables users to add to their account via wire transfer, debit or credit card. The mobile payment app works at any NFC-enabled terminal everywhere the Mastercard contactless logo appears, Wirecard said in the press release.

“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, EVP of consumer solutions with Wirecard, in the press release.

According to Wirecard, Apple Pay is attractive because security and privacy is “at the core of Apple Pay.” When customers use a credit card or debit card with Apple Pay, the actual card numbers don’t get stored on the device or on Apple servers. Instead, a unique device account number is assigned, encrypted and stored in the Secure Element on users’ devices. Each code can only be used one time, which increases the security. Wirecard noted that users who want to pay with boon outside of France can do so by upgrading to boon PLUS, which doesn’t include additional costs to use.