When it comes to finding the perfect phone plan, your credit score can play a major role. Bad credit or no credit can be an obstacle when trying to navigate the Australian mobile phone market, particularly with options like contracts and lines of credit. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to stay stuck in your current situation – there aren’t plenty of companies out there that offer flexible payment plans for customers based on financial history.
What phone plans can you get with bad credit?
There are a number of phone plans available in Australia to consumers with no credit or bad credit. With the options to choose from, it’s important to understand what your needs will be with your phone and ask yourself some key questions like:
- Approximately how many calls do you anticipate making?
- Are you a regular text-er?
- How much data do you require to stay connected and productive while out of the office?
- What is your desired budget for this purchase?
With the majority of plans, you can take advantage of unlimited calls and texts!
Prepaid plans
A prepaid phone plan is the most accessible option for those with bad credit:
- No credit check is required
- You pay for services in advance, so there’s no risk for the provider
- Offers flexibility and control over spending
- Available from major telcos like Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone, as well as smaller providers
Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) Plans
PAYG phone plans are another alternative for people with bad credit:
- No credit check or contract required
- You only pay for the services you use
- Provides flexibility for those with varying usage needs
If you’re signing up for a telco plan in Australia, the best news is that unlimited calling and texting comes as standard. You can make one phone call, ten calls or even a thousand – so long as your plan supports unlimited calls – without being charged extra!
It’s a common practice to send unlimited texts when you have friends and family living within Australia. This way, you can stay in touch without worrying about being charged for each text sent.
Before you call or text overseas, be aware that it may not necessarily be included in your unlimited plan. Also, if you are travelling abroad and taking advantage of roaming services, chances are calls will have a cost associated with them unless specified otherwise. Text messages could also result in added costs depending on the international coverage of your network provider.
If your plan is to contact people from within the country, you can be certain that most mobile phone plans in Australia provide unlimited calls and text messages as part of their package. So rest easy knowing that you are covered!
Data needs for your phone
The amount of data you require drastically varies depending on how much and where you use your mobile device.
Let’s say you are mostly using your phone at home for social media, emails, web browsing, entertainment apps and music. If your house has WiFi access then you won’t need as much data on your mobile plan. However if this is something that you do while out of the house without WiFi access then it’s best to consider getting more data as part of a costly mobile plan so that you can use these services even when away from home.
These days, data can be one of the most expensive components of any mobile plan – apart from the cost of purchasing a phone itself. The expense can quickly accumulate depending on how you use it.
Are you someone who loves to watch movies? If so, then streaming from Netflix, Stan, ABC iView or Disney+ on your phone might be something for you. Just keep in mind that standard quality video can take around 700MB per hour while high definition (HD) requires 1GB to 3GB of data every hour!
Music streaming can be data intensive, depending on the audio quality settings you use. An hour of streaming may range from 40MB to 400MB per hour; most people probably won’t surpass 100MB an hour but amplifying your sound will likely increase your downloads.
We all know that web browsing devours your data, and the more you browse, the greater amount of downloads you will be confronted with. Unfortunately, there is no definitive number for how many MBs you can expect to use daily; however if you’re a frequent user of your phone then it’s reasonable to assume between 50-250MB per day only from web surfing.
In short, any and all activities conducted on your mobile phone that involve the internet require you to download data in some form. Additionally, uploads also factor into the overall amount of data used by your phone. If you’re unsure how much data allowance is right for you, start with an estimated guess and incrementally increase it if needed.
To begin, it may be wise to start with 40 or 60GB of data and if needed you can easily increase the amount on a monthly basis. On the other hand, these allotments could end up being too large for your needs so feel free to reduce them as well. Phone companies are usually amenable to any changes in this regard.
Many cellular plans in Australia come with a cap on the speed of monthly downloads. Go for one of these packages and you’ll get access to 40 or 60GB at the fastest possible rate available from your phone’s network. Once this limit is reached, however, speeds will dip significantly yet still enough for web browsing – offering unlimited data until next month comes round!
How much should you spend?
As you determine your data necessities, an important query to ask yourself is: how much should I invest?
It’s hard to know what phone plan is the best for you if you have bad credit without spending hours on research. It doesn’t have to be that way though.
If you’re considering a new phone plan, it’s essential to explore your options and compare plans with bad credit; that way, you can figure out how much money is necessary for the best possible plan. Some companies may offer phones with their plans or without — whatever works best for your budget and needs should be your primary focus!
