It struck me the other day, how easy is it to live without a bank account? simple answer…it isnt! So how on earth do low income families manage it?
Prepay is one answer; but of course when it comes to prepay energy they pay more (how is that fair – shouldn’t you get a discount for paying in advance?). Then there is pay as you go for mobiles. No premium there is there? well actually there is….you cant get the free and inclusive packages you can on a contract. So they are penalised again! why is this? I’m sure the providers have a reasonable excuse for this after all they have to run a business but as energy and mobiles are almost an essential part of todays life they must have room to maneuver? don’t they? perhaps not or perhaps they don’t want to. Reference the news in the last few weeks about direct debits being increased for energy and what that infers.
This is why as we develop and roll out our digital lifestyle services (voice, TV and Internet) we plan not to penalise those who want a pay and go or use a prepay service – why should we? alright it makes our financial planning a little more difficult but thats ALL it does. Why should those in low incomes or those who want to pay and go (and its not just Low income – maybe they want anonymity) be penalised? short answer, with us they wont be.
Surely when you deliver a service, that service should be as transparent as possible to the consumer. Shouldn’t it…….?
