Apple Pay in Germany with boon.
Apple Pay, Irish Apple ID, and a virtual Mastercard from boon.
While Apple Pay is being announced and launched in more and more countries, it’s still not available here in Germany. According to rumors, Apple could activate its payment service in Germany as early as the release of iOS 11.
If you don’t want to wait that long, you can already enjoy the benefits of Apple Pay thanks to various guides, French Apple IDs, and the workaround via the app “boon.” Unfortunately, these guides never worked for me – only with the help of Dennis from the N26 community on Facebook was I finally able to set up Apple Pay. Here I’ll explain exactly what the solution was and what is needed to pay with Apple Pay in Germany using an iPhone or Apple Watch:
Apple ID
First, we need a new Apple ID.
The easiest way is actually to do this on a desktop/Mac in the iTunes app. If necessary, log out of your German Apple ID in iTunes, because in order to download the boon. app, we need to switch to the App Store of a country where boon. is available. Among others, these include France and Ireland. Most guides recommend using France at this point, but I had no success with that and either got an unexpected error in iTunes, couldn’t verify myself, or was asked to set up a payment method (Visa, Mastercard) that we don’t need. That’s why you now switch the country in iTunes to Ireland – the setting for this is in the bottom right corner of the app. Once the store has switched, search for the iPhone app boon. and click download.
A login window should now pop up, and you can create a new Apple ID there with an email address and address not yet used with Apple. Neither the email address nor the address has to be Irish or correct, but it’s recommended to at least use a real Irish address, e.g. that of a hotel. During the registration process, you’ll be asked for a payment method – select “None” here, since we only want to download one free app later on. If needed, you’ll now have to verify your email address in iTunes with a 6-digit code.
On the iPhone as well, log out of your German Apple ID in the settings under “iTunes & App Store” and then change the region in the settings under “General / Language & Region / Region” to Ireland. The iPhone will briefly show a black screen as it switches the region, then return to normal. You don’t need to change the iPhone’s language. Force-quit the App Store via the app switcher (double-press Home), then go back into iPhone settings and log in with your Irish Apple ID under “iTunes & App Store.”
boon.
Next, we need the boon. app, through which your future Apple Pay payments will run.
If you followed the last step and logged in with your Irish Apple ID in the iPhone settings, you can now open the App Store. It should be immediately clear that you’re in the Irish App Store, since at least the language has changed. You can now easily find the boon. app via search, which previously didn’t appear in the German App Store.
(Tap this link on your iPhone if needed to go directly to the App Store page. However, I recommend the manual search method.)
After downloading boon., you can register in the app with your mobile phone number and set up a virtual Mastercard. In the app, tap “Add to Apple Wallet” to do just that.
Via the + button in the home section of the app, you can add your first balance – since the boon. Mastercard is a prepaid Mastercard, it cannot be used without topping it up first.
Apple Pay
Once you’ve loaded balance, it’s immediately (*though not quite instantly, more on that below) possible to pay in stores at contactless terminals (recognizable by the wave symbol similar to the Wi-Fi symbol) with Apple Pay. To do this, double-press the Home button on the locked iPhone and hold it near the terminal/reader. To pay with Apple Watch, the card must be added in the boon. settings for the Watch. Again: first change the region in the Apple Watch app. You may also need to set up a passcode so Apple Pay can’t be misused if you lose your Apple Watch (this code is not needed for payments – only if you’ve removed the watch from your wrist). To pay with the Watch, double-press the flat button on the side and hold it near a contactless terminal.
• Since March, German users have been asked by the boon. service team to switch to a Plus account to continue using the app for payments “abroad” (from boon.’s perspective: outside of France). This is easy to do in the app – you just need to provide your address and verify your identity. This usually happens within 24 hours.
However, the documents I submitted (ID card + driver’s license) weren’t enough for boon. for verification or proof of address, so they asked via email for more information (utility bill, bank statement, credit card statement, court order, proof of government benefit, tax assessment, residence permit, or registration certificate).
Update, September 2018 → Although I was initially a big fan of mobile payment with boon., I eventually got annoyed that my bank still didn’t officially support Apple Pay and I “had to” resort to a prepaid solution. Instead of constantly topping up my boon. account, I always paid with my N26 Mastercard (contactless). But Apple has recently officially announced Apple Pay, and it will probably be launched by N26 later this year. My free year with boon. has just expired, which is why I took the opportunity to cancel my boon. account.
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