Do you need a credit card for AutoPay?

[Fretman]

Hi,

I plan on joining PM using the $15 monthly plan.  I would like to use AutoPay to save an extra $2 per month.  Originally I thought about using my credit card and just letting PM take the pre-authorized charge each month.  But would it be possible to use vouchers instead?  For example, I would buy a PM voucher for $50 and add it into my account.  Then enable AutoPay.  Would PM just take $13 each month for the next 4 months.  By month five, I would've added another voucher to my account to keep enough there for the next AutoPay.  Thanks.

[totalUser]

Hi @Fretman 

One more thing, everything in your account is with tax already paid, so when I withdraw 10 manually on the account, 11.3 gets taken off my credit card.

Also I use a card with very small balance on it, it's kinda like prepaid just about $3 is on it unless I want to use it. Then I send money to it, which is usually on your card in 30 minutes. I'm never worried about funds disappearing as every attempt would be for a large sum, it was suggested to me here in the community.

[totalUser]

Hi @Fretman 

That's the BEST way if doing it if you are happy with your service, you organise your payment the way it suits you best, you don't have to rely on autopay (it can fail and punish you) and you pickup all the rewards. I pay manually, my family member pays exclusively by vouchers except for the initial registration as he has issues with his cc and we lower our bill and get the sweet data: )

Cheers

[Fretman]

@ChuckYeah, thank you for the information regarding the renewal.

[zblackma]

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@ChuckYeah wrote:

@Fretman Sure there have been credit card issues. But the benefits outweight the costs. I'd say, the people who are using vouchers have had more issues per capita than the cc users, once the cc is set up at least. 

I hope I'm not telling you something you already know, but the major thing to be aware of is the renewal "hustle." On your renewal day, you will get a text saying you need to put $$ on your account. At around 8pm eastern, your account will show expired on self serve. Then closer to mighnight, your account will say suspended and tell you you must pay your plan cost within 90 days or your account will be closed. It's been mentioned here a lot.

Just remember this, if your phone is still fully functional, just leave it alone and it will renew by morning. It's adviseable to not even log into your self serve account during this time, just so you don't create any issues, just because it looks like you have an issue. 

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Useful information.  Thank you.

[ChuckYeah]

@Fretman Sure there have been credit card issues. But the benefits outweight the costs. I'd say, the people who are using vouchers have had more issues per capita than the cc users, once the cc is set up at least. 

I hope I'm not telling you something you already know, but the major thing to be aware of is the renewal "hustle." On your renewal day, you will get a text saying you need to put $$ on your account. At around 8pm eastern, your account will show expired on self serve. Then closer to mighnight, your account will say suspended and tell you you must pay your plan cost within 90 days or your account will be closed. It's been mentioned here a lot.

Just remember this, if your phone is still fully functional, just leave it alone and it will renew by morning. It's adviseable to not even log into your self serve account during this time, just so you don't create any issues, just because it looks like you have an issue. 

[Triguy]

You could set it up using a prepaid Visa card.

To set up AutoPay, sign in to your Self-Serve account, select the ‘Payment’ tab, then ‘Register for AutoPay’. From here, you can sign up for AutoPay or remove the feature, if you no longer want payments to automatically occur. If you would like to change the card that is automatically charged, scroll to the bottom of the ‘Payment’ tab, then select ‘Manage my card’. This will allow you to update or remove your credit or Visa Debit card.

[Fretman]

It almost sounds easier to just use the CC.  My only concern was security and PM taking out more than what's agreed to.

[ChuckYeah]

Just to clarify @zblackma @Fretman , on the account side, your taxes are "included", you pay the tax on your voucher at the vendor, but yes, when you are allowing the payment to come off your credit card, you'll need room for the tax. 

If you're letting your Available funds pay your plan, you do not need to ensure taxes are there. Inside your account, taxes are already included.

[zblackma]

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@ChuckYeah , thanks.  So it sounds like I need to provide my CC to use AutoPay.  So if there's $20 in my account, PM would deduct $13 leaving me with a balane of $7 and not touch my CC at all.  And the following month, would PM take the $7 and chage my CC $6?

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Don't forget the HST.

[Fretman]

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@ChuckYeah wrote:

The short answer, yes!

The more exact answer is you do need a credit card to enable autopay. But you do not have to use it to make your payments. You can purchase vouchers and load them before your renewal date and your credit card will never be charged.

However, if privacy/security is your issue. Your credit card will still be in PMs system.

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@ChuckYeah , thanks.  So it sounds like I need to provide my CC to use AutoPay.  So if there's $20 in my account, PM would deduct $13 leaving me with a balane of $7 and not touch my CC at all.  And the following month, would PM take the $7 and chage my CC $6?

[ChuckYeah · Accepted solution]

The short answer, yes!

The more exact answer is you do need a credit card to enable autopay. But you do not have to use it to make your payments. You can purchase vouchers and load them before your renewal date and your credit card will never be charged.

However, if privacy/security is your issue. Your credit card will still be in PMs system.