The Verizon Plan: Know the Credit Requirements and Fees Before You Sign Up This [year]! The Verizon Plan, a direct successor of the Verizon Edge plan, offers its customers a simple solution. (Shop Verizon here!)
Verizon no longer offers plans that require you to pay $200 down on a phone, while paying the rest of the subsidized cost back over the term of your contract.
In this blog, we’ll teach you how the Verizon Plan works, so that you’ll understand Verizon credit requirements and fees before you sign up.
How Verizon Plan Works
Introduced in 2015, the Verizon Plan simplified phone purchase pricing and wireless plan options. (Read the Verizon Plan FAQs here.)
Here are the basics of how it works:
- No upgrade or activation fees
- Pay the full retail price of your phone upfront or in 24 monthly installments
- $0 down on a smartphone for eligible customers (based on a credit check)
- All plans include unlimited talk and text
- You select only the amount of data you need each month
- You pay an access fee for each device
Buying Your Phone
When you sign up with Verizon, you can either pay for the entire cost of the phone immediately or choose to pay for the phone in 24 monthly installments. Regardless of your payment preference, your 2-year cost of ownership will be the same. If you do choose to pay in installments, you’ll be required to enter a 2-year contract with Verizon. The monthly payments will depend on the cost of the phone, and this amount is combined with the amount of your plan to create your monthly bill.
Early Upgrades with Verizon
Verizon provides two ways to upgrade your phone.
First option, make 12 payments under your installment plan and then trade in your phone for an upgrade.
Second option, pay the full price upfront, re-sell your phone when you want to upgrade and then buy a new phone.
Verizon’s upgrade program is the most expensive of those offered by the major wireless carriers. Because other carriers essentially give a discount to lease a phone and Verizon does not.
Most Verizon customers will most likely opt to stick with their phone for at least 2 years.
Wireless Data Plans
As we mentioned earlier, all plans include unlimited talk and text; however, you need to decide how much monthly data you will need.
Verizon does suggest the size of the data plan, which is based on the number of connected devices and the user’s monthly usage requirements.
On top of your monthly data cost and device payment, you’ll also need to pay a monthly access fee for each connected device.
Monthly Access Fees
Verizon monthly fees can be costly. Current monthly access charges are as follows:
- $20 per smartphone
- $10 per tablet or hotspot
- $5 for all other connected devices
Also, the first phone on the plan must pay the $20 monthly access fee.
Need More Data?
If you require more data than available under the small, medium, large, and x-large Verizon plans, you can buy an unlimited plan: Click here.
Cloud Storage
The Verizon plan comes with 5 GB of complimentary cloud storage. If you find that you end up requiring more, you will be able to upgrade this at any time.
Data Plan Costs
Below are the data plan costs for 3GB and the shared 12GB data plans. Whether you purchase an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or other smartphone, the costs will be similar; however, for this blog we cover the costs of data using a 16GB iPhone.
As stated above, the total two-year costs will be the same whether you pay in installments or pay the full purchase price upfront.
Individual 3 GB Data Plan*
- Phone: $27.08/month
- Access Fee: $20/month
- 3 GB Data: $45/Month
- Monthly Total: $92
- 2 Year Total: $2,210
Family 12 GB Data Plan*
- 2 Phones: $54.16/month
- Access Fee: $40/month
- 12 GB Data: $80/month
- Monthly Total: $174
- 2 Year Total: $4,180
* Totals are rounded for convenience.
Verizon charges a premium to use their top-rated network and 4G LTE speeds, but you will also own your phone, and can re-sell it after 2 years.
If you decide to trade in your phone and upgrade after 12 months, your 2-year cost of ownership will be the same as shown (assuming the new phone has the same price). But you’ll incur sales tax again and you’ll not be able to re-sell your phone.
Credit Requirements and Eligibility
Verizon Wireless has strict credit check requirements. Verizon checks the level of debt you are currently managing, charged-off/collections accounts, payment history and the limits on your credit accounts. If your credit score is lower than 650, you may have trouble getting approved or required to pay a large deposit.
Click Here to Find What Deposits People Like You Are Paying Verizon.
Verizon prepaid plans are great options for individuals with bad credit or prefer cheaper no-contract plans. You can read our review of Verizon Allset Prepaid Plans here.
Finding Verizon Deals
If these plans look expensive, but you want to join the Verizon network, my suggestion to keep you eye out for a deal.
Check out the latest deals from Verizon:
Save $20 on select prepaid phones. Offer valid thru 6/30/18
Prepaid iPhone SE just $159.99, Plus waived activation! Offer valid thru 6/30/18
Get Prepaid, starting at just $30 a month! Plus, waived activation. Offer valid thru 6/30/18
A smarter way to prepaid starting at $40/month. No contracts,
Get 1GB of Bonus Data Every Month when you sign up for a smartphone prepaid plan with Autopay.
The Bottom Line
Now that you are armed with an understanding of how the new Verizon Plan works, and you know all the associated fees and credit requirements, let’s outline the major pros and cons:
Pros:
- Straightforward pricing
- Verizon’s top-ranked network
- You can re-sell your phone after 24 months because you own it
Cons:
- Early upgrade option is expensive
- Plans are expensive
The bottom line is that Verizon plans are expensive, but a lot of that expense is offset because you sell your phone after 2 years. (Leasing and early upgrade plans usually require you to turn in your handset to upgrade early.)
However, if you love the fast and reliable Verizon network, Verizon remains the way to go.
