Wirecard’s boon Mobile Payments System Arrives in Germany

It’s not that Germany didn’t already have plenty of mobile payments options, but now, it’s got one more. Google Pay recently went live in Germany, and in the process, Wirecard’s boon mobile payments tool went live right along with it. For Wirecard users, this means that a fully digital option is now available for anyone in the country, no matter what bank they’re using.

Essentially, with Google Pay’s arrival, it’s now possible for boon Mastercard holders to connect it to Google Pay using the boon app, and then use the combined result for mobile payments. It’s a little convoluted, but the process takes just a few minutes to set up, and the end result is a secure mobile payments platform for all Android smartphone users in the country.

Now, boon gets a little extra layer of functionality, able to integrate directly into a mobile payments interface with Google Pay. Users can effectively pay for items just by holding up a device to the interface. Given that boon is the fastest-growing mobile payments platform in Europe, at last report, this is a welcome step forward.

Mastercard’s vice president of digital payments & labs Arne Pache noted “We are delighted to offer all Android users in Germany even greater mobile payment possibilities together with boon and Google Pay. Contactless payments with a digital Mastercard and a smartphone is not only very convenient, but it is also secure, as no personal account or card data is stored or transferred.”

There’s a lot to be said for improving convenience, though it’s unclear how boon and Google Pay will be able to pull in users from the wide array of mobile payments options that’s already running riot through Europe. For current boon users, it might be welcome, and given the growth rate involved with boon, this could be a worthwhile push after all.

The mobile payments market in general is fairly well stuffed with competition, but it doesn’t seem to be slowing down the pace of new entrants much. That’s good news for the overall market, even if it doesn’t bode well for those already in the field. The pace of innovation will need to be brisk to keep most of these entrants in play for any length of time.