AT&T has just updated its autopay policy, which most subscribers may dislike. The carrier is lowering autopay and paperless billing discounts for credit and debit card users. It wants you to switch your payment method to a bank account to keep your discounts at their highest levels. Verizon and T-Mobile have made similar changes in the past.
AT&T cuts autopay discounts for card users, bank account required for full savings
Starting April 24, AT&T will drop the popular $10/month autopay discount to $5/month for customers using debit cards. Meanwhile, those using credit cards will lose their $5/month discount entirely, unless they get an AT&T Points Plus credit card from Citi. The only way to keep the full $10 discount is by switching to bank account/ACH payments.
This change isn’t entirely new — AT&T quietly confirmed it back in March. But this week marks the widespread rollout of customer notifications, and many are now realizing what’s at stake. Customers using a credit or debit card for autopay recently received emails detailing the changes.
This isn’t the first time AT&T has changed its autopay policies. About two years ago, the company stopped offering the full $10/month discount to customers paying with credit cards, dropping them to $5/month and pushing many toward debit cards. Now, it is applying the same pressure to move customers from debit cards to direct bank account payments.
What can you do?
AT&T is clearly signaling that bank payments are their preferred method, likely because they come with fewer processing fees and more direct control — payments are more difficult ot dispute compared to credit and debit cards. Almost all AT&T plans are affected by this change. If you are an AT&T customer availing of its autopay discounts, you might want to check your current payment method.
If you are paying through a credit or debit card, your monthly phone bill could go up by $5 per line or more soon. For customers comfortable with linking their bank account, it may be a worthwhile tradeoff for continued savings. Alternatively, you can switch to prepaid services, like Visible, Lycamobile, and MobileX. These carriers offer great value while ensuring extensive coverage across the nation.
