Verizon Wireless had already confirmed that a device payment plan was coming available. The one part that we didn’t see with the previous confirmation though, was any specifics. Basically, Verizon had said a payment plan was coming and that was about it. Well, in a bit of good news for those curious, said payment plan is now available and Big Red has offered some further details.
Verizon Wireless has offered details in terms of how much you can finance, how many devices you can finance at at time, what the finance charges are and even confirmed that it can be used for a smartphone or tablet. Diving right in with which devices are eligible, Verizon has said the payment plan is available for smartphones and tablets that are priced at $349.99 or higher.
Users will be able to have a maximum of two open installment plans at a given time and of those two plans, they cannot be more than $1,000. Provided you keep those two in check, in addition to the price of the device, you will also be paying an additional $2 per installment. Or for those who take the entire 12 months to pay, that means you will be paying $24 in finance charges.
On that note, you can always pay these installment plans off early as there are not any pre-payment penalties. At the time of purchase you will be required to make the first payment (including the extra $2) and according to the fine print coming from Verizon — this offer is available to “qualified” customers only. Bottom line here, this seems like a decent option for those who are trying to get out from under a contract or for those who happen to break a device and either don’t have any insurance or cannot afford the full retail price to buy a new handset.
[via Verizon Wireless]
Do they say what price you’ll be paying? IE give an example device… so if a device costs $650 are they expecting you to pay (650/12)+24 for it, and will they be removing the existing charge part of the monthly bill to recover the price difference.?
Do you still pay full price for service as if you got a subsidized phone, but you pay full price plus interest on the phone too? Does Verizon not get the point of the UnCarrier plans at T-Mobile? This seems mainly like a way of easing the pain for those who want a new phone but are not eligible for a subsidy, but otherwise its still business as usual.