A new mobile phone is considered to be a major purchase and to be honest, not everyone can buy it instantly. Most of the popular mobile phone ranges from 700 dollars to 1000 dollars. With such an amount to dispense from your savings, it is better to opt for mobile phone financing. If you are willing to buy a phone on contract, it is most likely that your cellular network will make a background credit score check. You need to fulfill the requirements for the minimum credit score needed for cell phone contract. So here is what you need to know before signing up for the contract.
What is a Decent Credit Score?
While you were buying a car or a house or purchasing a TV, someone was tracing you and was keeping a record of all your financial transactions. That implies that whether you were buying those things in cash or by other methods like a credit card. If you buy anything on credit, they will search the records to know if you are making a payment on time. If you make payments in due time, then your credit score will be high and if you are defaulting then you will get a low credit rating.
Similar Article: Top 10 Buy Now Pay Later Cell Phones No Credit Check
It is very important to have a great score because those people appear to be honest and sincere while repaying them and such persons are always pursued by financial organizations and are offered various schemes and policies with other facilities. So to say, banks prefer to deal with these people. And if anyone has a bad rating then he will be deprived of any such facilities. So it is recommended to deal with your finances in a subtle way.
Basically, your credit rating depends on companies that evaluate such ratings. Each of them uses separate methods to come up with a grading system from 300 to 850. A score of 750 and above is treated as an excellent credit score and below 600 is considered to be a bad rating. So it is clear that you need 750 as a minimum credit score needed for cell phone contract
Where to Check Credit Score:
You must go through your credit report before jumping on to buy a smartphone. If you are not sure of your credit ratings you can always check that. The three major credit reporting firms, namely Experian, Equifax, and Trans-union, now offers at least one credit report free of cost once in a year.
Your Credit Score Can Affect Your Mobile Phone Purchase:
Having a good credit rating will get a better deal on mobile phone financing. Having an average score might fetch you a brand new phone but it will come with a high-interest rate and you will have to deposit a minimum amount first. Those people having a poor rating might get a prepaid plan and they will have to buy the phone first. The phone will have fixed minutes of talk time with a limitation of a few months.
Some companies offer special plans for people with low credit scores and also for those people who don’t want to check their credit rankings. Cellular networks also encourage people with low scores to buy a phone with a discount and then making payments all through the year and then upgrading the plan the following year.
How to Pass a Mobile Phone Credit Check:
The credit rate is checked when the process of mobile phone contract starts. The network then verifies your identity and further contacts the credit reference firms to get the credit scores. Basing on the credit ratings you can have a contract or not.
Therefore in order to bypass a credit check, you will need the following things:
You should be 18 years of age. You must have some sort of credit history or any financial transactions. Make an entry to the electoral roll and then apply for the contract using the same address. You must have a good score. There isn’t anything called minimum credit score’: it all depends on the cellular network, the plan you choose for talk time, the handset, etc.
If you are unable to pass the above criteria, it is still possible to use a phone without checking scores. There is a little choice called no credit check’ which works out as a cheap and flexible way to achieve a contract that does not require credit score checking. Many people, therefore, opt for a hustle free way to get approved without requiring a decent credit score.
Things to Provide:
First of all, make sure to get yourself registered on the electoral roll for getting an address. You can also see your credit report if you are more concerned about the contract. When signing up for a new mobile phone contract you will be asked for the following to provide:
Your personal details like name, father’s name, date of birth, nationality, marital status, etc. Your current address and previous addresses for the last 3 years.Your debit or credit card details with address same as the present one. Information regarding your bank, you may be asked for additional information like when did you open your account.
These are the initial checking and depending on them further questions may be asked that is related to your bank account. Checking should be done to prevent identity theft.
The Problem for First-time Creditors:
If you are young and have shifted to a new country, then it is quite obvious that there will be no financial dealings with any of institutions and as such there will be no credit scores assigned to your name. So when you will be checked to know the credit scores, the result will be zero. In such situations, the company cannot lend you any money because they won’t find out if you are a bad risk or a good one. They may offer you with huge interest rates.
The one and the only way to come out of this situation is to build a good financial transaction if you are planning to buy something big like a car or a big mansion.
Minimum Credit Score to Get The Contract:
While buying a mobile phone on credit, your credit ratings will be definitely be checked by your cellular network. Mobile phone contracts get accepted even with a poor credit score.
In order for survival, mobile phone networks must sell contracts. Suppose a network doesn’t make a deal with you they will probably lose the scope of doing business with you. They will be turning down taxes for 2 years and thereafter. So for this exact reason, they might not turn you away and you may get accepted for the contract.
The minimum credit score for mobile phone contract is 650 and if you somehow managed to get that score, then there might not be a problem to get a contract. The acceptance of the contract will depend much on the network it will be, the device you choose and your personal circumstances.
Nowadays mobile phones have a wide variety of models that are priced moderately and so networks are partially taking risks to give the phone to you free of cost. If you have the capacity to buy, just pay some money upfront as an initial deposit and thus you get accepted for the contract.
Having a Bad Credit Score:
An abundance of things to do if your credit score is very poor. Even if you get accepted on the contract the mobile network will bear two costs, the talk time with texts you used but have not paid and the price of the free handset.
The need of the hour is to get a cheap contract with a cheap handset because that might help you to get minimum exposure to yourself. Buying a brand new costly phone on an agreement is insane because there are options for the low-end handset and then accumulate savings up to a limit where you can buy a second-hand phone that has a lot of features.
Still Struggling?
So now you know that a minimum credit score for mobile phone contract is required. Each network will rate you differently and sometimes that will help you to go for the easy network first. If your credit score is so much worse to apply to such easy networks, then your last option will be to purchase a low priced handset and get a contract that includes no phone.
Only a few people possess a poor credit score that they can’t even get a sim only contract. This is the only choice you have, take it and start increasing your credit score. Few months after paying your bill duly your score will increase naturally and then you can get a new contract and also a free handset.
Always Remember to Compare:
Having a credit score needed for cell phone contract and a stable income, you will be accepted by almost every phone network, so make sure to have the best deal. Search for an online comparison website where you can get the best offer and facilities from various networks that you have not heard of previously.