AutoPay is good for many reasons. Not only is it probably the most bulletproof way to avoid a late fee, but it also nets you some decent discounts. Unfortunately, though, it looks like it’ll be slightly more annoying for some customers who’ve been using a loophole to pay with a credit card.
According to multiple internal sources who have reached out to The Mobile Report, customers enrolled in AutoPay will lose their monthly discount if they make an early one-time payment on their bill using an ineligible payment method, such as a credit card. The change takes place tomorrow, October 24th.
The carrier’s AutoPay discount, which provides a savings of $5 per line, is a staple in T-Mobile’s plan pricing structure. However, under a controversial policy change implemented in 2023, T-Mobile began requiring customers to have a debit card or a bank account (ACH) registered as their official AutoPay method to qualify for the discount. Methods such as credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay were thus deemed ineligible.
So what’s changing now? This latest change targets a workaround some customers have been using since that restriction took effect.
Up until now, a customer could register a valid debit card or bank account to secure the AutoPay discount, but then manually make a one-time payment for their full balance before the scheduled AutoPay date using an ineligible payment method, like a rewards credit card. Because the bill was already paid, the automatic debit payment would not be processed, allowing the customer to both claim their credit card rewards and receive the AutoPay discount.
Under the new rule, any such one-time payment made with an ineligible method—whether for a portion or the total of the bill—will now disqualify the account from the AutoPay discount for that billing cycle.
Customers who make a one-time payment using an ineligible method while having autopay enabled will receive a text from T-Mobile informing them of the loss of discount for that bill cycle. Paying early via an eligible method, such as if you wanted to pay half your bill early with a debit card and rely on autopay for the rest, will be fine.
Presumably, if you have a negative balance on your account (a credit), you’ll also still receive the discount.
Other carriers such as Verizon and AT&T put similar restrictions on AutoPay—you can pay with a debit card or use the carrier’s co-branded credit card.
For what it’s worth, this change seems to come before T-Mobile is expected to launch its own credit card, which would presumably be eligible for autopay. If T-Mobile does launch a credit card, then it should be pretty much identical to the other carriers in this aspect.
These changes take place Friday, October 24th.
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