Autopay Discounts Are No Longer Available from AT&T and T-Mobile — Here’s How to Avoid Overpayments and Late Charges
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Josephine Nesbit
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Sean Fisher
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Bills that are paid automatically are more likely to be paid and paid on time each month. This is why companies offer a discount when you sign up for their autopay feature.
However, T-Mobile, At&T, Spectrum and more are changing their autopay policies this year due to high fees for processing card payments, Cord Cutters News reported.
Consumers Energy recently announced that payments made through credit or debit cards on autopay will no longer be accepted beginning Oct. 1, reported 13 On Your Side. Customers can link their bank account to autopay to continue receiving the discount.
“To do our part and keep energy costs fair, and to comply with changes to credit card company policies, we can no longer accept credit or debit card payments through auto-pay starting Oct. 1, 2023,” said Consumers Energy spokesperson Joshua Paciorek. “We ask customers to please update their payment method to a checking or savings account soon, and we appreciate their understanding.”
According to Cord Cutter News, AT&T customers paying by credit card will get $5 off instead of $10 starting Oct. 2. If you change your payment method to a debit card or bank account, you can still receive the total discount. T-Mobile still offers autopay discounts, but there’s no longer a $5 per line discount when you pay by credit card, Google Pay or Apple Pay. This change went into effect on July 25.
Spectrum added a new $5 discount, said Cord Cutter News, but the company recently raised its internet prices by $5, so you aren’t really getting a better deal.
Customers aren’t happy with these changes and have taken to web forums to criticize these new autopay policies. One user in T-Mobile’s online support community pointed out that a potential data breach is more important than getting a $5 to $10 discount.
Cord Cutter News reported that T-Mobile had a security breach earlier this year, so customers are wary of linking their bank account information to their online accounts. The data of 37 million people, including names, billing addresses, emails, phone numbers, birthdays and T-Mobile account numbers were stolen in January.
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