T-Mobile: Auto-Pay Discount For Bill Payment by Credit Card Ending

[Ian S]

So, coming in May T-Mobile will no longer give you an autopay discount if you pay your bill with a credit card. You can still get the discount if you pay by debit card or ACH transfer. Our discount apparently is $15/mo so I'd like to keep that going. Is there any real difference in choosing a debit card vs ACH transfer for such routine payments? I'm half inclined to set up a T-Mobile checking account (paying 2.5% on balances) just for paying their bill as opposed to having it come out of our joint Chase account. Any suggestions?

 

[pb4uski]

I would just set it up out of your Chase account to keep it simple... but $15/mo discount is a good incentive.

 

[audreyh1]

How were you notified, by email?

 

[MichaelB]

How were you notified, by email?

My question as well. I logged into my account and saw no notification, nor have I seen anything in my email.

 

[braumeister]

I haven't heard from them either, but I found this:
T-Mobile: Credit Card Payments Will Soon Lose AutoPay Discounts

 

[Piper20]

I would never allow TMO to transfer ACH from my checking account. They’ve been hacked to many times. I’ll pay the extra charge.

 

[badatmath]

I would never allow TMO to transfer ACH from my checking account. They’ve been hacked to many times. I’ll pay the extra charge.

+1 Not that I have Tmo but no way.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

I have Metro PCS ("by T-Mobile") on my CC with autopay discount. After my experience with T-Mobile CS when I tried the internet gateway I would NEVER give them access to my account directly.... they burned some bridges with me. I'm not crazy being with Metro PCS since they are owned by T-Mobile but had that service before the nightmare and am keeping it. My insurer and electric utility along with CCs are the only automatic ACH I've authorized from my primary checking account. Probably coming from PCS next so I may have a decision to make....

 

[Ian S]

My question as well. I logged into my account and saw no notification, nor have I seen anything in my email.

Log into your account and click on "Bill and Pay". That will show your bill amount and if you are on auto-pay, there will be a check mark next to "AutoPay". Click on AutoPay and it will take you to that page and there is a notice across the top of the page.

 

[Ian S]

So my Chase account has a VISA branded debit card and that is supposed to protect you against losses due to fraud. Maybe it would be best to use that instead of ACH transfer.

 

[tulak]

I’ve heard about this too, but haven’t received any notification from T-Mobile.

I hope that they send out a notification instead of automatically charging more. I guess it’s good to pay attention. Not that I don’t trust T-Mobile, but I could see this generating extra revenue for them if customers don’t pay attention.

 

[braumeister]

For me, the savings amount to $20/month, so a significant change.

For $240/year I don't mind changing it to a very small checking account I have at a credit union. There is never much more in that account than would cover the monthly phone bill so I won't worry about it.

 

[Ian S]

For me, the savings amount to $20/month, so a significant change.

For $240/year I don't mind changing it to a very small checking account I have at a credit union. There is never much more in that account than would cover the monthly phone bill so I won't worry about it.

I also have a credit union account that I don't really use much apart from writing the odd check. I was thinking of closing it but maybe using it for the T-Mobile bill would be be a good idea. It too has a VISA branded debit card that may offer some extra protection.

 

[MichaelB]

Log into your account and click on "Bill and Pay". That will show your bill amount and if you are on auto-pay, there will be a check mark next to "AutoPay". Click on AutoPay and it will take you to that page and there is a notice across the top of the page.

Thanks, there it is. $5 per month for each of 2 lines plus 2% cash back from the credit card. T-Mobile sure isn’t going out if it’s way to inform customers. I’m not a fan of account debits, and less of a fan of debit cards, but it looks like one of those is in my future.

 

[11522914]

I also have a credit union account that I don't really use much apart from writing the odd check. I was thinking of closing it but maybe using it for the T-Mobile bill would be be a good idea. It too has a VISA branded debit card that may offer some extra protection.

I've always kept a small checking account at a cu for these and other reasons. Usually has about $550 in it. Works great for those exceedingly rare times I can't use a credit card.

 

[audreyh1]

For me, the savings amount to $20/month, so a significant change.

For $240/year I don't mind changing it to a very small checking account I have at a credit union. There is never much more in that account than would cover the monthly phone bill so I won't worry about it.

It’s $10 a month for us. I already have unused checking accounts to choose from.

 

[MC Rider]

I've been thinking to call them and say we are retired now, not using the 2 phones much, and $70 a month is too much! Added to the to do list.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I have prepaid for a flat fee of 15 with auto pay. I went online and didn’t have any type of notice after I followed the instructions. Is this for post paid only?

 

[audreyh1]

I have prepaid for a flat fee of 15 with auto pay. I went online and didn’t have any type of notice after I followed the instructions. Is this for post paid only?

I think so.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Thanks Audrey.

 

[kgtest]

Well, I lose the 2% cash back my credit card rewards me which amounts to $33.60 a year in lost savings. We have 5 lines on our account. Always nickeling and diming us.

 

[Katsmeow]

This has been extensively discussed on the T Mobile subreddit. The general consensus is that they aren't trustworthy enough on security to link your bank account to them. Also they are doing this to get around promise not to raise rates. Backdoor way to do it. Debit cards also don't have the protections of credit cards. The most common option people seem to be suggesting is open a bank account at an online bank that has no fee and no minimum and just autopay from that.

That seems reasonable. Anyone recommend an online bank with no fee, no minimum?

 

[SheitlQueen]

This is interesting. I just signed up with Tmobile today. Signed up to pay with a credit card for the $5 a month discount. Guy did not mention to me that it was going away in a couple of months. I might have to go back tomorrow and discuss it with him.

 

[Montecfo]

since these TMobile bills do not vary, you could probably set the payment at the bill amount (say a flat $70) to reduce risk.

But the TMobile money pays 4%on 1st $3K so using that account at least does not cost you a lot.

 

[audreyh1]

Hey - this may be a good reason to set up the T-Mobile money account. Thanks for the reminder.

ETA: Just did it. They used my T-Mobile account credentials and thus didn’t require a credit check which is good because my credit record is frozen. 2.5% APY for checking not bad. I was able to download the app and make a mobile check deposit.

I’ll never do all the work required for qualifying transactions to get the 4%. I don’t bank that way.

Worth $10 a month.