Apple Adds Carrier Billing to iTunes, Starting With O2 in Germany

[FelixDerKater]

Dangerous for some. Convenient for others.

 

[UnusedLoginID]

"The new payment method enables customers to pay for apps, songs, TV shows, movies, iBooks and other iTunes content without needing a credit or debit card, or even a bank account."
I don't get it! How do these people pay for their cell phone bill if they don't have a credit card, debit card or a bank account? Who would use that service when indeed you can get discounted iTunes cards?

 

[Benjamin Frost]

Here's what I want from Apple:

H/T @zcichy

That looks reasonable.

I'd bite at $15 a month.

 

[Tech198]

This seems ok on the surface... But..

"Customers without a contract can have purchases debited from a prepaid amount applied to the iPhone."

I prefer this, since (a i am a prepaid user and (b the amount would come off "immediately"..

otherwise, who's to say no one can score "free" paid apps out of this deal, just because no one will pay at the end of the month, so in their hands it will be free. ? Apple's not gonna use the kill switch and revoke it from users iPhones, just because of they haven't payed for a app they "purchased"... There would be too many complains f that happened.

Sorry, i just saved u 90% of reading

 

[shamino]

"The new payment method enables customers to pay for apps, songs, TV shows, movies, iBooks and other iTunes content without needing a credit or debit card, or even a bank account."
I don't get it! How do these people pay for their cell phone bill if they don't have a credit card, debit card or a bank account? Who would use that service when indeed you can get discounted iTunes cards?

Who said they didn't have such accounts? They may simply not want to use them for purchases made from the handset.

As for why, several have been mentioned already, including:

• Some people would like all their phone-related expenses to appear on their monthly phone bill (much like how pay-per-view charges appear on your cable/satellite/broadband bill.)
• If the phone is being paid for by a third party (like an employer), then it's a convenient way to send them the bill.
• It's convenient to just pre-pay some extra money (on a pre-paid phone plan) to cover apps. Similar to a gift card, but one that can be used for other phone services as well as stuff Apple sells.
• You've already got enough payment accounts to keep track of and don't want the iTunes Store to be yet another one.

I realize that none of these reasons apply to you, but they definitely apply to others. Many of them have already posted here with their reasons.

Oh, and BTW, you don't need a credit card or bank account to get a cell phone. You can pay cash in person if there's a carrier's store nearby (although they'll probably make you pay a deposit for such a plan.) You can also use a prepaid phone and just buy minutes/bandwidth on an as-needed basis - which can also be done with cash.

 

[unplugme71]

It's about flippin' time. I was able to do this on Android (and older flip phones) with AT&T and Verizon for years.

While I usually prefer to buy the apps myself, there are a few cases where billing it to the carrier is far better. In particular, when I first got my work phone, I needed to purchase and install a special mail app (for $20) for connecting to our corporate mail servers. I could have done this the hard way - fill out a purchase-order request, get it approved, then charge the purchase to my corporate credit card, then file an expense report to get reimbursed. Or I could do what I did - bill it to the carrier, where it just shows up on the bill that the company paid as a part of their normal expenses.

(Yes, I realize that the ability to do this has the potential for abuse. All I can say is that I don't abuse that privilege. I only do this for apps that my employer requires me to install.)
And it's no different from what other platforms have supported for a long time. The Google Play store supports this. And my ancient flip-phones all supported this, although in that case, the carrier was running the store.
What carrier are you referring to? I don't know of any that charge interest or impose late fees for non payment of your bill. If you don't pay the bill, they cut off your service. If you still don't pay, they send a collections agency. They are not a credit company.

Maybe its changed, but my original AT&T contract imposes interest fees.