• T-Mobile to Roll Out 'Smartphone Equality' Program

    by
    Akshay Masand
    Published on 2015-01-23 03:28 PM
    5 Comments Comments


    U.S. mobile company T-Mobile recently announced another program, but this time it’s for those with poor credit. The promotion is called the “Smartphone Equality” program and it allows customers with bad credit to still receive device discounts as well as deals that were only exclusive to those with good credit. CEO John Legere posted a video blog that explains the new promotion and reason behind it. It was noted by Legere that most promotions that get advertised by other mobile companies don’t actually work for half of Americans due to credit qualifications. Legere said he has plans on changing that by "putting our relationship with you above some number pumped out by a credit bureau, some huge faceless bureaucracy."



    With the new “Smartphone Equality” program, customers who have paid 12 months of their cell phone bill on time will qualify for prices that have been discounted. The ‘discounting’ pricing includes T-Mobile’s zero down and no credit check promotions going on for customers. The company is trying to tell everyone that they care for their customer relationships as opposed to just their credit scores. The ‘Smartphone Equality” promotion will roll out next week.

    Source: T-Mobile
    This article was originally published in forum thread: T-Mobile to Roll Out 'Smartphone Equality' Program started by Akshay Masand View original post
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    Comments 5 Comments
    1. luvmytj's Avatar
      luvmytj - 2015-01-23, 03:38 PM
      Legere said he has plans on changing that by "putting our relationship with you above some number pumped out by a credit bureau, some huge faceless bureaucracy."
      Yeah, why risk financial losses based on a business that reports those risk?

      With the new “Smartphone Equality” program, customers who have paid 12 months of their cell phone bill on time will qualify for prices that have been discounted.
      So if customers pay on time for a whole year they earn your "credit qualification"? So basically it works very similar to the rest of the carriers.

      Why is the fact that companies use your credit score, a reflection on how you pay your bills, to be sure you will pay their bills? How does fiscal responsibility equate to a "dirty industry secret"? Hate to say it but people with poor credit usually get that way due to their own bad financial choices, not always, but in America, usually.
    1. Ambi_Valence's Avatar
      Ambi_Valence - 2015-01-23, 05:50 PM
      God this guy gets on my nerves.
      Right, let’s get something straight. Businesses do not give away things for free. If he has ignored the risks that he is taking on with bad debtors he will increase the cost of all customers to compensate.
      Your bill may not have increased yet but they will make it back. Somewhere.
    1. SpiderManAPV's Avatar
      SpiderManAPV - 2015-01-23, 07:01 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Ambi_Valence View Post
      God this guy gets on my nerves.
      Right, let’s get something straight. Businesses do not give away things for free. If he has ignored the risks that he is taking on with bad debtors he will increase the cost of all customers to compensate.
      Your bill may not have increased yet but they will make it back. Somewhere.
      Exactly what I was thinking. There's ALWAYS a catch in low/no credit loans.
    1. PCYoda's Avatar
      PCYoda - 2015-01-27, 08:59 PM
      Legere is usually pretty good about being straightforward without much of a catch. I personally love what he's doing.

      "Bad credit" / "no credit" isn't always a complete sign of irresponsibility. Life events happen - unexpected medical, layoffs, and other things - that can cause an otherwise responsible person to incur debts.

      We also tend to reward certain types of debt while punishing others - a homeowner with $400K on a mortgage is considered "responsible" but someone that has even $15K of debt on credit cards is considered "irresponsible".

      I'm glad that he's decided to take a step back and say "hey, if you can pay your bills to us on a regular basis, we're going to trust you as a good customer"
    1. luvmytj's Avatar
      luvmytj - 2015-01-28, 02:20 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by PCYoda View Post
      Legere is usually pretty good about being straightforward without much of a catch. I personally love what he's doing.

      "Bad credit" / "no credit" isn't always a complete sign of irresponsibility. Life events happen - unexpected medical, layoffs, and other things - that can cause an otherwise responsible person to incur debts.

      We also tend to reward certain types of debt while punishing others - a homeowner with $400K on a mortgage is considered "responsible" but someone that has even $15K of debt on credit cards is considered "irresponsible".

      I'm glad that he's decided to take a step back and say "hey, if you can pay your bills to us on a regular basis, we're going to trust you as a good customer"
      Maybe so, but a person with a 400K mortgage has good credit and is responsible or they would not of been granted the loan. A person with 15K worth of credit card debt may very well be fiscally irresponsible. Your comparison is lacking in this case.

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