T-Mobile's 'Smartphone Equality' Program Ends Credit Score Requirement for Loyal Paying Customers

T-Mobile today announced a new program that makes it easier for customers with poor credit to receive discount pricing on devices and other deals previously only available to credit-worthy customers. CEO John Legere kicked off the new "Smartphone Equality" promotion with a video blog that explains the rationale behind the program.


Legere notes that half of Americans do not qualify for most carrier-advertised phone deals due to poor credit or a lack of credit history, and T-Mobile aims to change that by "putting our relationship with you above some number pumped out by a credit bureau, some huge faceless bureaucracy."

With its new "Smartphone Equality" program, T-Mobile is emphasizing the customer's relationship with the carrier instead of their credit score. As part of the initiative, customers who have paid their wireless bill on time for 12 months will be eligible for discounted pricing, including the carrier's popular zero down and no credit check programs. The "Smartphone Equality" program will be available starting next week to eligible customers.

T-Mobile has been shaking up the cellular industry with its ongoing Un-carrier promotions, which broke new ground by removing the cellular contract from a smartphone purchase and offering generous early termination bonuses for customers who switch to T-Mobile. Recently, the wireless carrier introduced its Un-carrier 8 initiative, which includes a new "Data Stash" program that rolls over unused monthly data and makes it available for the following 12 months.

Popular Stories

Apple Creator Studio

Apple Introduces New 'Creator Studio' Bundle of Apps for $129 Per Year

Tuesday January 13, 2026 6:11 am PST by
Apple today introduced a new Apple Creator Studio bundle that offers access to six creative apps, as well as exclusive AI features and content, as part of a single subscription. In the U.S., pricing is set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year. Here are the six apps included with an Apple Creator Studio subscription:Final Cut Pro on the Mac and iPad Logic Pro on the Mac and iPad Pixelmator...
Verizon New

Verizon is Down: iPhones Show 'SOS' Mode Due to Network Outage [Resolved]

Wednesday January 14, 2026 10:18 am PST by
Verizon is experiencing a major outage across the U.S. today, with hundreds of thousands of customers reporting issues with the network on the website Downdetector. There are also complaints across Reddit and other social media platforms. iPhone users and others with Verizon service are generally unable to make phone calls, send text messages, or use data over 5G or LTE due to the outage....
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

New Leak Reveals iPhone 18 Pro Display Sizes, Under-Screen Face ID, and More

Wednesday January 14, 2026 7:09 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around eight months away, a leaker has shared some alleged details about the devices. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo this week, the account Digital Chat Station said the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Consistent with previous...
iOS 26

Here's What's New in iOS 26.3 So Far

Monday January 12, 2026 1:15 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 26.3, nearly a month after the first beta. So far, the update includes a couple of new features for iPhones. iOS 15.3 through iOS 18.3 were all released in late January over the years, so it is thereby likely that iOS 26.3 will be released towards the end of this month as well. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. Below,...
airpods pro 3 design

Apple Releases New AirPods Pro 3 Firmware Update

Tuesday January 13, 2026 11:29 am PST by
Apple today released a firmware update for the AirPods Pro 3. The latest firmware has a version number of 8B34, up from the previous version 8B30. Apple has a support document for AirPods firmware updates, and it indicates that the 8B34 update contains unspecified "bug fixes and other improvements." No other AirPods models received firmware updates today. How to install AirPods Pro...

Top Rated Comments

sualpine Avatar
143 months ago
Legere for FCC Chairman.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Paddle1 Avatar
143 months ago
T-mobile really tries to make a difference in the wireless industry.
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
shenan1982 Avatar
143 months ago
I applaud their move (as will most since as he says, most americans don't have great credit)... but the key is will this add the type of subscribers they want? We'll see. It didn't go well for Sprint back in 1999-2000 when they did the "no credit, no problem" promotion and took everyone and anyone. Time will tell I suppose. But then again, back then if you talked all day and all night, you'd have a $5,000 bill... today if you do the same thing your bill is going to be $50 still. In a world where cell phones have become less of a spend than most people spend in Starbucks, I suppose this makes sense... and with no overages, no international roaming charges, etc... there's really very little risk to TMO.

Ok, in one paragraph I went from opposition to support, haha. Thanks for joining me in my thought process, hehe
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
liavman Avatar
143 months ago
I love this guy.

One of the weirdest and punitive thing about U.S. credit system is, even if you are keeping your credit card payments on time, if for whatever reason your credit score drops, these credit card companies will increase the interest rate on those credit card payments, on the existing balances. This causes these people to pay more on interest which causes more financial hardship and they fall further behind which reduces the credit score even more and on and on.

I am glad T-Mobile dude is doing something about that by putting his relationship with his customers at a higher priority than whatever this customer may or may not have done with other aspects of their financial life.

Kudos! Hope it all works out for him and hopefully it will encourage others especially the banks to change the brain dead process they currently have.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WestonHarvey1 Avatar
143 months ago
A bit melodramatic. They're still more than happy to trust those "huge faceless bureaucracies" when they're assessing new customers.

As they should. It's the only tool they have to assess new customers. But they're not letting that be the end all and be all, which is great.

----------

That's great, but what happens when half of these subscribers can't pay their mobile bills?? T-Mobile taking it on the chin like a champ. :eek:

They've looked at their own data and found that won't be the case.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
technosix Avatar
143 months ago
T-mobile really tries to make a difference in the wireless industry.

Yes they do.

It's a refreshing change and one that's paying off for them. :)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)