T-Mobile Changes AutoPay Discounts: What You Need to Know – CNET

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T-Mobile will no longer give AutoPay discounts for using Apple Pay and Google Pay to pay your bill automatically starting July 25, according to a report from 9to5Mac on Monday. This is on top of T-Mobile ending AutoPay discounts for credit cards earlier this year

If you’re a T-Mobile customer, this means you’ll now have to link your bank account directly to T-Mobile to receive the $5 AutoPay discount per line. Debit cards will also still be eligible for the discount. You can still use Apple Pay, Google Pay and credit cards to pay your phone bill, just without the discount. 

T-Mobile and Apple didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Read more: Best Cheap Phone Plans for June 2023: Alternatives to AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon

AutoPay discounts work as an incentive to encourage you to set up direct billing. But limiting AutoPay to those who link their bank accounts directly to their carrier account raises some security concerns given the numerous security breaches T-Mobile has suffered in the past few years.

Earlier this year, a data breach affecting 37 million accounts hit T-Mobile. This was on top of a massive data breach in 2021 that affected 53 million people.

T-Mobile isn’t the only carrier that’s limiting AutoPay discounts — Verizon also limited its discount to debit cards or its own Visa card.

If you’re looking for a new phone plan, check out CNET’s advice on the best cellphone plans of 2023, what to know before switching carriers and the best phone to buy this year.

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