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

Chriva wrote:

I've been a loyal T-Mobile customer for 20+ years.  Will be switching to Verizon next month based on the Autopay discount that now will only be applicable to debit/checking payments.  I don't think that T-Mobile understands that I don't want them having my debit card or bank account due to their poor data security record.  This is s very poor business decision on T-Mobile's part and extremely incongruent with what has been for the past 20 years been a very positive customer experience with them.

so its safe to say you did zero research into V and the fact that they ALSO dont give a auto pay discount for CC cards? your options are….

use your CC card and not get the auto pay promo..

for the auto payment promo  you must use...

debit card/bank info.

Verizons own CC card

from V themselves…

 

vzw_customer_support

Representante de Servicio al Cliente

‎02-25-2023 10:13 AM

SoCalTim wrote:

Fireguy,

I respect you for trying to defend your employer.

I haven't seen the mod or a Tmobile employee post on this board in almost 2 weeks. Tmobile employees need to have an identifier in their profile that shows in their post per the forum terms.

https://community.t-mobile.com/site/terms

Empleado de T-Mobile

Los empleados de T-Mobile pueden participar en la Comunidad de asistencia de T-Mobile, pero se deben identificar con el logotipo o insignia de T-Mobile.  All T-Mobile employees are bound by the T-Mobile Employee Handbook and T-Mobile Code of Business Conduct, as well as T-Mobile's Privacy policies and Security policies when accessing, using, or participating in the Community. Salvo los Especialistas de la comunidad descritos anteriormente, los empleados de T-Mobile no pueden solicitar a los miembros de la Comunidad ninguna información personal a través de mensajes en un foro de la comunidad o a través de mensajes privados (PM, en inglés).  Los empleados de T-Mobile no están autorizados a acceder a las cuentas de los clientes, bajo ningún concepto o razón.  Los empleados de T-Mobile que participan en la Comunidad no representan a T-Mobile, no pueden aducir que hablan en representación de T-Mobile y sus puntos de vista y opiniones no necesariamente reflejan las de T-Mobile. El incumplimiento por parte de un empleado de T-Mobile de este Acuerdo, estos Términos de Uso y/o las Pautas de uso de la Comunidad de asistencia de T-Mobile will result in corrective action up to and including termination

whyTeeMobile wrote:

shame on you Tmobile! for stealing so much money back.  Nobody should use their debit card or bank account b/c TMobile has been hacked many times and sued for $500 million class action.

 

 

Jan 2023: 37 million accounts hacked.  https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/another-data-breach-has-hit-t-mobile-impacting-37-million-accounts/

Feb/Mar 2023: T-Mobile Announces Another Data Breach. https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/t-mobile-announces-another-data-breach/

Aug 2021: breach that affected over 54 million people with social security numbers etc. https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/t-mobile-data-breach-2021-heres-what-it-means-for-securing-your-data/

July 2022: T-Mobile Agrees to $500M Settlement in Massive Data Breach that affected >76 million people.  https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/t-mobile-agrees-to-500m-settlement-in-massive-data-breach/

 

T-MOBILE!!!  This is the whole reason we need to use credit cards!!  To protect consumers from you getting hacked.  And, credit cards companies charge maybe 3%!!!  You are trying to claw back and charge consumers closer to 15-20%!!!  You could charge maybe $5 total per bill but not $5/per line!!!  

AND this should ONLY be for new accounts!! not longstanding accounts that have been with you for years.  Those accounts should be grandfathered in!!!

 

Customers:  DO NOT give TMobile your debit card or bank account.  Eventually it will be compromised and thieves could empty your bank account.

 

Call them and band together!!!  

 

 

I agree although I'm already in the process of changing carriers. There are better deals out there. It is disingenuous and a money grab. See my posts with current Credit Card rates and the potential 100+ billion in extra revenue using my plan as basis. Deception of the increase rather than charging us for the CCrd fees and no concern of customer security by giving banking info in light of T-Mobile breaches. It's a German Company not a U.S. company, so why care.

emmanuelsa wrote:

I really hope TMo is reading these comments.  Today I called to register a complaint and concerns about Tmo not being able to keep my account info secure, and was suggested I open a cash card like Paypal Debit and fund it so I can pay through there.  Now I have to put a firewall between the two just to protect myself from their incompetence?  The only reason I haven't switched yet is the logistics of getting 7 lines moved to another carrier with new SIMS and porting of numbers, but this is likely to happen soon.  

 

Now I will have to budget and make sure funds are in my account based on my paycheck rather than the flexibility I have now with paying off a CC before interest accrues.  

 

Also, how can a massive org like Deutsche Telecom not be able to negotiate better deals with Visa/MC etc.  or even just absorb the cost?  Are their  margins so thin that 3% credit charge is going to bankrupt them?  Do Better T Mobile. We're not asking for free stuff, we're asking you to not make it difficult to give you our money.  

so which carrier will you be looking into?

Totally agree with all of those here complaining about T-Mobile's policy change to remove AutoPay discount if using a credit card to pay with.  (I just got the text a couple days ago that I have till next month to change how I use AutoPay or lose the discount.)  I will also be hurt by this due to using a CC that provides phone protection against theft or damage.  It certainly feels like T-Mobile has used a loophole to increase its profits while supposedly keeping its promise to not raise one's rates for the life of the plan.  I certainly didn't read the entire terms & conditions so have no idea what was said about AutoPay, but nevertheless this is extremely disappointing and am not sure there is much alternative (have not found Verizon or AT&T as competitive but will now start shopping around).   For now, my plan will be to use t-Mobile Money and keep just enough there to pay the bill.  Hopefully, T-Mobile is paying attention to these comments as well as the FTC.

Data breach is more important than getting $5-$10 auto discount. Debit card is direct access to bank account and loosing all money if hacked. Better to change the carrier. 

Telecom wrote:

Data breach is more important than getting $5-$10 auto discount. Debit card is direct access to bank account and loosing all money if hacked. Better to change the carrier. 

Not true. Debit cards that are backed by Visa and MasterCard offer the same fraud protections as credit cards do. Some even offer rewards and/or deals. At the same time, most banks offer card controls that can limit debit spending, spending categories, single transaction accounts, alerts, locks, etc.  I get pending debit alerts in real time and all it takes is phone call to halt any suspect activity before the COB - debits don't occur until close of business. Once I notify the bank the burden falls on them to prove it wasn't fraudulent activity.

I don't like it any more than anyone else but nearly everything I have now is eliminating discounts when paying by credit card (some add a fee when paying by credit card). TMO isn't unique in this whether it be taxes, utilities, or just about anything else. Not apologizing for TMO's action but folks need to get over it at this point and change carriers if it's a burden or simply continue using their credit cards.

In reality I've got a second free (no minimum balance) checking account with a debit card (and strict debit spending controls) that I keep a minimal balance in as needed for bill payments. It has no overdraft protection.

magenta8618215 wrote:

Just un-enroll from autopay.  Let them mail you a paper bill and send them a check for payment.  See what that does to their costs.

I'm keeping autopay for now (and losing the discount), just changed to get a paper bill as a protest. Maybe they did me a favor, I'll be looking for a new phone soon and now I'm free to move?

Who the Fck want to put there debt or bank number on a Company that got hacked and stole our information not once but twice.. I'm canceling auto pay and now will switch providers. T-mobile going to be the next Bed Bath & Beyond. Poor management.. 

syaoran wrote:

That was announced months ago.  It is because credit card companies charge a service charge that is based on the percentage of every transaction, which eats into T-Mobile's revenue.  Removing the auto pay discount for credit cards negates that.  

You fail to see the very real risks to subscribers.  Continuing the autopay using cc discount plus a simple credit card payment fee of 2.5% or a flat convenience fee of $3 would have been a much better idea.  

Consider the following:  For low income customers for whom the monthly autopay discount is very important.  This change is especially harmful to customers who may not have bank accounts/debit cards or have bank accounts with frequently low balances.  A data breach exposing banking information to criminals would hit these customers especially hard.  Even when fraudulent charges are disputed, banks may continue to make checking account funds unavailable to customers for several days causing considerable hardship.  
 

When I asked a T-mobile "expert" in an overseas call center about data security, he replied that T-mobile had secure ways for customers to send bank account numbers to T-mobile.  What?!  If T-mobile doesn't even  understand the problem, how can customers entrust such sensitive personal data to them.