T-Mobile recently revealed the company will begin charging customers to pay their bills in stores. The new policy goes into effect on July 19th, 2023. While customers will still be able to pay their bills at a retail location, an additional $5 charge plus tax will be applied to their balance.
Employees at T-Mobile retail stores are instructed to encourage more people to sign up for the company’s AutoPay feature, which actually provides a $5 discount for monthly payments.
To qualify for T-Mobile’s AutoPay, customers must:
- Be on Go5G, Magenta, T-Mobile Essentials, ONE Plan, or another tax-inclusive plan (such as LineLink and Mobile Internet for hotspots)
- Be active on AutoPay at the time of bill processing
- Have paid the prior month’s bill by its due date
- Cards with statements mailed to foreign addresses can’t be used for AutoPay
- Payment method must be a debit card or linked bank account. Credit cards and digital wallets (Apply Pay/Google Pay) are not eligible
- AutoPay isn’t available for No Credit Check plans
Prepaid customers won’t see an in-store payment support charge until a later date, which has yet to be disclosed.
Sources report a growing number of additional fees and charges, from a $35 device connection charge which began in October of 2022, the same year T-Mobile vowed to not increase prices due to inflation. Shortly after, the company increased its fee for paying a bill late from $5 to “great of 5 percent of applicable monthly charges or $7 where allowed under state law.” So basically, depending on how much your total monthly charges amount to decide how much you would be fined for a missed payment.
If you still pay your bill in stores, go ahead and sign up before July 19th to avoid this extra payment charge and get the $5 discount instead. Visit T-Mobile’s website to create an account and never have to worry about forgetting another payment again.