Home
News
You are here

T-Mobile is enforcing a harsh AutoPay rule

T-Mobile is closing a loophole that still let customers use their credit cards for AutoPay discounts.

4comments

By Anam Hamid

Updated: Oct 24, 2025, 2:35 AM

In 2023, T-Mobile asked customers to stop using credit cards as a payment method to continue receiving the AutoPay discount. That didn't deter every customer, many of whom used a loophole to continue paying with credit cards. T-Mobile is now closing that workaround.

You can't use a credit card without losing your AutoPay discount anymore

AutoPay is a T-Mobile service that lets you link a payment method to your account, ensuring your bill gets paid on time. T-Mobile also rewards users with an AutoPay discount of $5 per line for using an eligible payment method.

Since June 2023, linking your bank account or using your debit card has been the only eligible payment method that qualify for the AutoPay discount. Before that, T-Mobile also let users use credit cards.

To continue using their credit cards and secure the discount, some customers gamed the system by updating their payment method but paying their bill early with a credit card.

T-Mobile will officially seal that workaround, per The Mobile Report. Starting October 24, early payments using an ineligible payment method will cause you to lose your discount for that billing cycle.

This means that you can no longer beat the system by using your credit card before the scheduled AutoPay payment to keep your discount. While that hack still required customers to provide their bank or debit card details to T-Mobile, which in itself was a deal breaker, it let them claim credit card rewards.

You must play by T-Mobile's rules now

With T-Mobile tightening its rules, the workaround will no longer work. Nothing else is changing, and if you overpaid your bill, you will still get the discount. A couple of customers say they have paid for a few months in advance, so they are sorted for a while.

This makes me way more sad than it should. Just paid for two months in advance so this can be a 2026 problem for me.

AccidentalArchetype, Reddit user, October 2025

Others tried to pay at least this month's bill early with mixed results, with some saying the changes are already in effect.

Message is already showing "Ineligible for AutoPay discounts." if I try to pay with a Visa CC

lugo3, Reddit user, October 2025

How much of a deal breaker is this for you?

Big enough to make me consider leaving.

56.85%

I knew this would happen.

22.45%

I don't care.

20.7%

Other carriers have similar rules

AT&T and Verizon have similar rules, so there's really nowhere to go, unless you are prepared to wait for T-Mobile's rumored credit card. Carriers typically allow the use of their own credit cards for autopay, and the stricter rules might be a sign that T-Mobile's credit card is around the corner.

T-Mobile also recently increased its late fee, making setting up AutoPay even more crucial.

View Full Bio

Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.

Read the latest from Anam Hamid