What Boncard Payment & Services does

Boncard Payment & Services AG is a Swiss payment and customer-loyalty platform provider founded in 2007, headquartered in Fislisbach, Switzerland, and majority-owned by Schweizer Lunch-Check Genossenschaft since 2018. The company operates a proprietary white-label platform, branded BONsystem, built around the Swiss ep2 payment standard. Since acquiring its ep2 Acquiring License in 2010 and running its own ep2 host, boncard has been able to issue cards that transact on any ep2-certified terminal across Switzerland without requiring additional hardware at acceptance points. The product stack includes the core BONsystem issuance and processing engine, BONomat automated gift card kiosks (50+ deployed), the swally mobile wallet app, a webshop with Card Creator personalization, Print@Home vouchers, digital coupons (CouBONing), and a real-time WEBPORTAL for administration. Software is developed inhouse and certified Swiss Made Software; the firm is also a member of VQF, the FINMA-recognized Self-Regulatory Organization for AML compliance.

Boncard's customer base is concentrated in Switzerland across five primary verticals: shopping centers and retail chains, cities and municipal associations (gift cards for Baden, Schaffhausen, Wil, Bern, Aarau), tourism operators (Arosa Lenzerheide, Crans-Montana, LAAX, Heidiland, Gstaad, Lausanne), sports and cultural venues (FC St. Gallen, FC Basel, Kofmehl club), and social-services/public-transit programs (SBB voucher contract, asylum-seeker prepaid cards). Go-to-market is B2B enterprise sales supplemented by channel partners — payment terminal providers (Nexi, Worldline), PSP aggregators (Wallee, Payrexx, Datatrans/Planet), and card hardware manufacturers (exceet cards). Revenue is generated across five streams: per-transaction fees on ep2 card processing, card production and personalization (one-time), recurring system licensing and support, webshop and Print@Home module fees, and BONomat hardware sales plus maintenance. Pricing is quote-based and tiered into SMART (entry-level for SMBs), PRO, and GROUP (multi-merchant enterprise).

The company operates from three Swiss locations — Fislisbach (HQ), Pully (Romandie, co-located with Lunch-Check Suisse), and Falera (Graubünden, tourism) — with a team of approximately 12. Scale signals include 500+ completed projects since founding, 50+ BONomat kiosk deployments, and recent marquee customer outcomes including the Crans-Montana Prepaid card reaching CHF 7 million in volume in 56 days and Pro City Schaffhausen accepted at 120+ shops. Leadership rests with CEO Luca Federli (also chair of the ep2 Technical Working Group) and founder Thomas Federli (on the ep2 Board); other Federli family connections and long-tenured staff underpin continuity. Operations are confined to Switzerland; no international expansion is documented.

Name

Boncard Payment & Services

Legal name

boncard payment & services AG

Website

https://boncard.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Boncard Payment & Services AG is a Swiss provider of white-label gift card, payment, and customer loyalty platforms built on the ep2 payment standard, serving Swiss shopping centers, cities, tourism operators, sports clubs, and public institutions with a 12-person team.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Prepaid Card & Payment Services

NAICS

Credit Card Issuing (52221), Credit Card Issuing (522210), Greeting Card Publishers (513191)

akta.pro primary industry

Prepaid Card Program Managers & Issuers (BIN Sponsors) (FSAMANAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Merchant / Closed-Loop Wallets (Retail & Marketplace) (FSAMAEAF), Card-Present Acquirers (Retail & POS Focus) (FSAMABAC)

Keywords

• Gift card systems
• Payment processing services
• Customer loyalty platforms
• Prepaid card issuance
• White-label payment solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Aglasterhausen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Transaction Processing Fees: Fees charged on payment card transactions between card issuers (business customers) and acceptance points. Boncard processes transactions through its ep2 infrastructure and receives a per-transaction fee or percentage of transaction volume.
2. Card Production & Personalization: Revenue from producing and encoding physical and digital cards (gift cards, customer loyalty cards, payment cards). Includes design services, card materials (PVC, NFC chips, magnetic stripe), and personalization. SMART solution offers lower minimum quantities for small businesses.
3. System Licensing & Support Services: Ongoing fees for system access, web portal usage, technical support, terminal registration, and card account management. Includes service desk support and software maintenance.
4. Webshop & Distribution Module Fees: Fees for e-commerce integration, web shop functionality, and Print@Home voucher systems. May include setup fees and per-transaction charges for online card sales.
5. BONomat Hardware & Maintenance: Revenue from kiosk machine deployment, maintenance, and support services for the BONomat gift card automation solution.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Boncard Payment & Services AG operates a proprietary white-label payment and customer loyalty platform built on the Swiss ep2 payment standard. The company produces, issues, and processes gift cards, prepaid cards, and customer loyalty cards for shopping centers, retail chains, cities, tourism operators, sports clubs, and SMBs across Switzerland. End-to-end offering includes card production and personalization, ep2-based payment acquiring, BONomat self-service kiosks, a swally mobile wallet app, customer-branded webshops with Card Creator and Print@Home vouchers, and CouBONing digital coupons.

Product overview

Boncard Payment & Services offers a modular payment and customer loyalty platform called BONsystem, providing complete gift card and customer card solutions for businesses of all sizes. The portfolio includes the core BONsystem platform for card issuance and transaction processing, complemented by the BONomat vending machine for on-site card sales, the swally App for customer wallet services, and the Webshop module for online card sales with Card Creator personalization and Print@Home vouchers. Additional marketing modules include CouBONing for digital coupons and a WEBPORTAL for real-time business administration. Solutions are available in three tiers: SMART (entry-level for small businesses), PRO (professional tier), and GROUP (enterprise solutions for shopping centers, cities, and regions). The Service Desk provides centralized multilingual customer support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BONsystem: Customer loyalty and bonus system integrated with payment cards
• BONomat
• swally
• CouBONing
• SMART

Products and services

• BONsystem Gift Card and Customer Loyalty Platform End-to-end white-label platform for issuing gift cards, payment cards, and customer loyalty cards; includes card issuance, ep2-based payment acquiring at any ep2-certified terminal in Switzerland, real-time web portal, and automated reconciliation. Sold to shopping centers, retail chains, cities, tourism operators, sports clubs, public institutions, and SMBs.
• BONomat Gift Card Vending Kiosk Self-service kiosk for automated purchase, personalization, and reloading of gift cards on-site. Supports custom card designs including customer photos and converts Print@Home vouchers into physical cards. Co-developed with exceet cards; 50+ units deployed across Switzerland. Targeted at shopping centers and high-traffic retail locations.
• swally Mobile Wallet App Consumer-facing mobile application providing wallet functionality for boncard cardholders, including balance checking, transaction history, bonus point collection, and card redemption at locations without ep2 terminals. Available for Android.
• Webshop with Card Creator Customer-branded online store for 24/7 gift card sales with a Card Creator design tool for personalized cards and Print@Home voucher delivery. Integrated with payment providers including Saferpay, Wallee, Payrexx, and Datatrans/Planet.
• CouBONing Digital Coupons Digital coupon and promotional campaign module integrated with the gift card and loyalty system. Used by merchants to run targeted promotions, customer engagement campaigns, and bonus programs.
• Card Production & Personalization Services Physical and digital card production, encoding, and personalization services including card design, materials (PVC, NFC chips, magnetic stripes), and fulfillment. SMART tier offers lower minimum quantities for small businesses.
• SMART Gift Card Solution Entry-level turnkey gift card solution for small and individual businesses replacing paper vouchers. Includes card production with standard subject designs, first card load, reloading, terminal setup, and 24-month card validity. Lower minimum order quantities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Crans-Montana Prepaid card reached CHF 7 million transaction volume in just 56 days
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers25 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Technical Cooperation ep2coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2010Swiss payment standard organization. boncard has held the ep2 Acquiring License since 2010 and operates its own ep2 host. CEO Luca Federli chairs the ep2 Technical Working Group and Thomas Federli serves on the ep2 Board. boncard is a leading issuer and acquirer under the ep2 standard.
• exceet card groupcoreTechnology or IntegrationHardware partner for BONomat kiosk development. exceet cards provides intelligent printers for personalized card production integrated into the BONomat system. Joint development of the gift card vending machine solution.
• NexicoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPayment terminal provider whose ep2-certified terminals accept boncard payment solutions. Nexi provides the hardware infrastructure across Switzerland where boncard cards can be activated and accepted.
• Worldline (SIX)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPayment services provider offering ep2 terminals and the Saferpay e-commerce platform. Worldline's terminal network and online payment infrastructure enable boncard acceptance at POS and in web shops.
• WalleecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPayment service provider enabling boncard acceptance in e-commerce and at physical terminals. Wallee provides multi-channel payment processing across in-store, online shopping, and vending machines.
• PayrexxminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorE-commerce payment platform integrating boncard as an additional payment method. Payrexx enables merchants to accept boncard and Lunch-Check in their online checkouts.
• Datatrans / PlanetminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCheckout solutions provider integrating boncard as a payment option. Planet (Datatrans) enables need-based checkout experiences for e-commerce merchants.
• VQF (Verein für Qualitätssicherung)coreTechnology or IntegrationFINMA-recognized Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) under Swiss anti-money laundering law. boncard is a VQF member, ensuring regulatory compliance for prepaid card issuance and distribution under FINMA requirements.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pluxee: Spin-off of Sodexo Benefits & Rewards, Pluxee is the dominant European employee benefits and prepaid card operator directly competing with boncard's Lunch-Check and gift card programs in Switzerland and across Europe.
• Givex: Gift card, loyalty, and prepaid platform serving multi-location retail and hospitality — directly comparable white-label offering to boncard's BONsystem and a competitor for shopping center and city gift card RFPs.
• Up Coop (formerly LUNCH-Check competitors): Cooperative-style employee meal and benefit card operator in Switzerland and Europe; competes head-to-head with Schweizer Lunch-Check and therefore boncard's parent-driven meal benefit card business.

Broad incumbents

• Edenred: Global leader in prepaid corporate benefits (Ticket Restaurant, etc.) and a direct competitor in Swiss meal-voucher and prepaid benefit cards; broader portfolio and scale dwarf boncard's niche offering.
• Blackhawk Network: Global gift card distribution and prepaid payments network; provides white-label gift card programs for retailers and could compete with boncard if it expands deeper into the Swiss market.
• InComm Payments: Prepaid card technology and gift card processor serving retailers globally; broad incumbent with overlapping card production, gift card mall, and stored-value capabilities used by shopping center clients similar to boncard's.

Emerging players

• Swile: French employee benefits and prepaid card platform expanding into Switzerland with a mobile-first meal/benefit proposition overlapping boncard's Lunch-Check and member card use cases.
• Spendit: German SMB-focused prepaid Mastercard and employee benefit platform; comparable SMB tier strategy to boncard's SMART solution and adjacent competitor for DACH-region digital benefit cards.
• Pleo: European SMB-focused prepaid corporate card and expense management platform; partial overlap with boncard's prepaid payment programs for businesses, though focused on corporate spend rather than gift/loyalty.

Regional players

• WIR Bank: Swiss cooperative bank operating the WIR complementary currency and payment network; competes in the Swiss SME and retail payment ecosystem where boncard's ep2-based gift cards operate.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/boncard.ch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/boncard-payment-services-ag
• Xx.com/_boncard_

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Boncard Payment & Services