From new activation fees to (disguised) price hikes and from store closures to security breaches, T-Mobile has certainly been no stranger to unpopular plan revisions and controversy in recent months.This was originally reported on back in February, when it was vaguely scheduled to start applying "as early as May 2023", dividing T-Mo subscribers in two different categories: those who had nothing to worry about and thus saw the change as not that big of a deal and those who threatened to leave the operator as a direct consequence of it. If you're part of the latter group, it looks like you'll very soon get the chance to put your money where your mouth is (and stop giving T-Mobile your money), as a pair of newly leaked internal documents "fully confirm" the upcoming removal of the AutoPay discount for some. 

As you're probably well aware, the AutoPay program slashes a cool 5 bucks off your bill every month (or more if you have multiple lines of service on your account), but after May 18, the discount will go away if you use a credit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.

Of course, there's an extremely simple way to avoid paying more on each bill, as the AutoPay discount will go unchanged for customers using debit cards, bank accounts, or T-Mobile Money.

Starting May 20, T-Mobile plans to inform all subscribers affected by this change of the new policy, with SMS notifications to be sent 30, 15, and 3 days before the discount is actually removed from your account, thus giving you plenty of time to update to an "eligible" payment method mentioned above.

The only option to circumvent the change, as pointed out by a number of our readers back in February, is to put a debit card or bank account as your preferred payment method but then continue to use your credit card to manually cover your monthly bill ahead of time. 

If you're unwilling to go through all that hassle, which is something we can totally understand, you'll just have to accept to pay T-Mobile more for the same service... or switch to a different carrier.

Then again, while AT&T's AutoPay requirements don't appear to exclude credit cards in any way, Verizon only accepts Visa cards with its literal name on them as an alternative to debit cards and bank accounts.

View Full Bio

Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sbTOp5yaqpWjrm%2BvzqZmp52nqHy1ecyomaKklWKutsDOqZiyZZSewKS71KerZpuYlruosYycpqeemae6prCMppiyZWFterO7y6Wmrqxdma61sb6im2psZ2h%2BcQ%3D%3D