what's up with T-mobile removing autopay discount for credit cards?

Oddly my brother-in-law recently got this text for his and my sister's account but I didn't get one for my older account.   We verified the text he got came from the same place that sends other texts to both of us for billing and the link it contained is the same as those other texts.

We both agreed that giving T-Mobile our Debit or Bank Account is a no go and questioned how it would save them money to do Debit vs Credit Card.  I did mention there have been court cases brought by merchants over debit card fees and surmised perhaps those have resulted in lower fees but don’t know for sure.

One person suggested getting the paper bill and paying it via check as a solution.   They missed that the reason many of us signed up for autopay is the monthly discount.  Prior to signing up I DID pay (using online bill pay provided by my bank) and only started autopay for the discount.

I don't mind telling my bank my T-Mobile account but do mind telling T-Mobile or any other merchant my debit or bank account number.l  Firstly, my bank is far less likely to get hacked (and if they do I'd have much larger issues).  Secondly, many people have reported "accidental" extra debits in a single month by merchants they've given access to their debit or checking account.  Often that results in the merchant acknowledging it was an error but then suggesting they won't refund the overcharge but rather leave it as a credit to defray the next month's billing.  That is really bad for those who live paycheck to paycheck.   I can't say that has happened to any T-Mobile customer but also can't say it hasn't and see no reason to take the risk.

It is incorrect to say there are no protections on debit card fraud like there is on credit card.   This was true in the early days but the rules have changed meaning you CAN get your money back.   The problem is it going away in the first place.   If you have valid outstanding payments and checks they might be refused before you notice the money is gone.  Having to report the fraud, get the money back then deal with other payees penalizing you for such refusals would be a huge hassle.  With credit card charges nothing comes out of your bank account until you make a payment on the credit card.  Moreover you are not required to pay any amount you dispute (i.e. report as fraud) until the dispute is settled so it never comes out of your bank account (assuming it is in fact fraud).

P.S.  I created a separate T-Mobile account to post this lest they see my real account and send me the text telling me not having done so was an oversight on their part.  :p