I've only recently started to get in to this whole contactless thing when it comes to making purchases in stores, for some reason I would always use my card with the chip and pin when out shopping. I think I worried slightly that I wouldn't know how to do the contactless and then I'd end up looking a bit silly. Which I laugh about now, because I've recently learnt that it really couldn't be much easier if it tried. 
A few weeks ago I was contacted by boon. who offer a new way to pay using contactless and Apple Pay from an iPhone, they asked me if I'd like to take part in their Christmas shopping challenge. I was worried that I wouldn't quite 'get it' and that maybe it would be a bit too technical to set up and use when they mentioned downloading an app on my phone to pay with. How could it be that straight forward?
But it was.
I downloaded the app, set my account up, added boon. to my Apple Wallet and then went shopping with the credit they had set up for me to take part in the challenge.
I wasn't sure if many shops would accept the idea of me paying for products via my phone, but I quickly realised that it was exactly the same as using a contactless card. If the store accepted contactless and displayed the Apple logo then I was able to pay with boon.
And so I went on search for some items that boon. had asked me to find for my challenge. They'd asked me to find a game to play with family at Christmas and I couldn't resist picking up Pie Face from Toys R Us - I saw a viral video on Facebook the other day of two young brothers playing a different version of this game and it looked like so much fun, it instantly made me want too buy it, so it was top of our list.
I picked up some nibbles and Christmas food treats in M&S via boon. payment too. You just have to have Mince Pies in at Christmas time. I'm not the biggest fan myself, but my Husband loves them and we've got family over on Boxing Day, so I know they'll go down well. The chocolate log cake is most definitely going to be all mine though and isn't for sharing! (I wish! ;).)
Paying with boon. payment was so easy. All I had to do was hold my phone over the pin pad, just as you would a contactless card. It then asked me to verify payment with my iPhone's Touch ID and that was it - instant payment! It was so much quicker than paying using my pin number with my card. 
I picked up some fun festive glasses from Primark.
As well as a Secret Santa gift, as part of my challenge. This animal speaker may look small, but it is actually incredibly powerful AND it is a remote control for your camera on your phone too. My Mother-in-law has one and showed it to me, I thought it was amazing. When I went to get one myself, they'd actually been reduced down to £7! It's so worth picking one up if you have a Primark near you. 
I also picked up some star festive napkins whilst I was in there too.
I even popped in to The Range to see if I could use my boon. payment in there and I could. I got a Mrs Claus apron as I thought that was definitely fitting with the 'host with the most' theme for Christmas. And also some festive plates, a set of fairy lights and some tinsel.
And I also may have picked up the Hubby a rather amazing brand new Santa hat with beard. As you can imagine, he was very pleased when I asked him to model it for me! ;)
Paying for everything using boon. payment was far easier than I ever imagined it would be. It didn't just feel easier, it felt quicker too and much more straight forward. You can add credit to your boon. card from your bank account so you can keep track of your spending. This is great for shopping trips or weekly coffee budgets as to get more money into your boon. account you would need to actually go and add money from your bank account again. I think it seems like a great app for budgeting and keeping on top of payments and spending or even perhaps for a parents who might want to top up a boon. account for their teenager/s.
Get involved with #boonforcharity and win £100
#boonforcharity celebrates the amazing bargains to be found in charity shops - every month the winner with the best charity shop purchase wins £100 for themselves. To enter all you need to do is snap your charity shop purchase and tag it with #boonforcharity on Facebook, Instagram or through boon.'s website: http://boonpayment.com/boon-for-charity/. Good luck!
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