T-Mobile closing AutoPay discount loophole for Apple Pay and credit card payments

Two years ago, T-Mobile announced a controversial decision to ditch its AutoPay discount for Apple Pay and credit cards payments. Its reasoning at the time, of course, was that it pays higher processing fees on credit card transactions, so it saves a few dollars by restricting AutoPay to debit and bank payments only.

Unfortunately, T-Mobile is now cracking down on a popular workaround that allowed customers to get an AutoPay discount and still use a credit card or Apple Pay for payments.

Here’s the workaround: if you manually paid your T-Mobile statement balance ahead of the AutoPay date, you could use a credit card or Apple Pay and still get the AutoPay on your bill. You just had to also have AutoPay set up with a debit card or bank payment method. So long as you remembered to manually pre-pay your balance, however, that AutoPay payment method wouldn’t be charged.

As reported by The Mobile Report, this change went into effect on Friday, October 24. Now, you’ll lose your monthly AutoPay discount if you make an early payment via the T-Mobile app using an ineligible payment method like a credit card. That AutoPay credit usually offers a savings of around $5 per month per line.

The biggest frustration with this change is the fact that some credit cards offer phone insurance, so long as the cardholder pays their phone bill each month with that credit card. Some credit cards even go a step further and offer a statement credit every month for cell phone bills. Credit cards also offer protection against unauthorized purchases, while Apple Pay keeps your card information entirely secure. That’s not the case for debit and bank transfer purchases..

Granted, T-Mobile isn’t doing anything out of the ordinary with this change. Many other carriers in the United States impose similar restrictions on the use of autopay and credit cards. Still, it removes one of the competitive advantages of the carrier formerly known as the “Uncarrier.”

Thanks, Sasha!

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