If you’re concerned about your credit score and you’re looking for a new phone plan without a credit check, here’s what you can do.
On this page:
- What do phone providers look for in credit checks?
- No credit check phone plans
- What’s stopping me from getting a phone plan?
- Which telcos run credit checks for phone plans?
- What are the best no credit check phone plans?
- Telstra credit checks
- Optus credit checks
- Vodafone credit checks
- What’s the easiest company to get a phone contract with in Australia?
- Are no credit check phone plans worthwhile?
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What do phone providers look for in credit checks?
Telcos will likely send your personal details to a credit checking agency to judge your suitability for the plan you want to sign up to. Basically, they want to know if you can afford the ongoing payments. They may ask:
- Your current address and how many years you’ve lived there.
- Your occupation, the company you work for and how long you’ve worked there.
- 100 points of ID: The last four numbers of your credit card may be used in a credit check. Your licence or other ID may also be needed.
You’ll likely also need to sign a Credit Check Authorisation form, which allows the sales representative of the telco to submit the credit check. This can all vary on a telco-to-telco basis.
Check your credit score for free
No credit check phone plans
Going on a month-to-month postpaid or a prepaid phone plan is an easy way to avoid credit checks. You can find a range of competitive prepaid and postpaid plans with no credit check in the table below.
Prepaid Plans Under $40
Here is a selection of prepaid plans from Canstar Blue’s database for $40 or less, listed in order of standard cost, lowest to highest, then by standard data allowance, largest to smallest. If you want to see a wider range of plans from other providers our phone plan comparison tool can help. This table includes products with links to referral partners.
Postpaid Plans Under $40
Here is a selection of postpaid plans from Canstar Blue’s database for $40 or less, listed in order of standard cost, lowest to highest, then by standard data allowance, largest to smallest. If you want to see a wider range of plans from other providers our phone plan comparison tool can help. This table includes products with links to referral partners.
What’s stopping me from getting a phone plan?
The only real roadblock to a phone plan is a red flag in your credit assessment from providers such as Equifax, Experian or Illion. These assessors will look at:
- Consumer credit applications
- Overdue accounts (separated into three categories including ‘Outstanding’, ‘Finalised’, and ‘Arrears up to date’)
- Bankruptcy
Ask yourself if all your bills have been paid, your home loan is in-check, you have no outstanding fines and that you haven’t defaulted on any loans.
The assessors mentioned above can also provide a free credit report up to once a year. So, if you’re rejected, it could pay to look at your report to see if anything is awry.
Which telcos do credit checks?
Given that credit checks are likely to be carried for customers looking to sign up to a postpaid phone contract – be it over 12, 24, or 36 months – the following telcos are likely to do credit checks:
- Telstra
- Vodafone
- Optus
Other smaller carriers that offer contracted phone plans may also conduct credit checks. These may include Southern Phone and TeleChoice.
Phone plans for bad credit
The most obvious bad credit phone plans are prepaid phone plans.
Prepaid plans avoid credit checks as you have to make payments before you receive credit. In lieu of this, there are no excess data charges: once your credit runs out, that’s it until you manually top-up or recharge.
If you’re going prepaid, you have the option of a more standard 28-day or 30-day recharge period, or opting for a long-expiry plan that will allow you to pay for up to a year’s usage upfront. This could be a good option for a ‘set and forget’ plan if you can afford it.
Telstra credit checks
Telstra uses the credit reporting bodies Equifax, Illion and Experian for its credit checks. There’s no exact hard and faster answer as to why your application would have been rejected, but a check with Equifax’s credit report may shine some light. Information used to assess Telstra customers may be:
- Application info provided by you
- Overdue payments past 60 days
- Dishonoured cheques of $100+
- Serious credit infringements
- Overdue payments advices
Telstra is Australia’s largest telco and has some of the country’s most comprehensive smartphone plans. Below are some postpaid plans that may require credit checks.
The following table includes all month-to-month SIM-only Telstra plans as published on Canstar Blue’s database listed in order of standard cost, lowest to highest. Use our comparison tool to see a wider range of plans from other providers. These are products with links to referral partners.
Optus credit checks
Optus, like Telstra, uses Equifax and Illion for its credit checks. Much like the other telcos, a credit check may look into:
- Information on your application
- Overdue payments from the last 60 days
- Any serious credit infringement
- Advice that payments are no longer overdue
While the exact methodology and criteria Optus uses aren’t known, it’s likely that expensive phone plans may require a more stringent credit check.
The following table includes Optus’s postpaid SIM-only plans as published on Canstar Blue’s database listed in order of standard cost, lowest to highest. These are products with links to referral partners.
Vodafone credit checks
Vodafone also uses Equifax, as well as Illion for its credit checks. Vodafone may submit the following information to credit assessors as part of the application process:
- Information submitted in your application
- Payments more than 60 days overdue
- Any serious credit infringements
- Advice that payments are no longer overdue
Below are some month-to-month postpaid plans from Vodafone that may require a credit check.
The following table includes all postpaid SIM-only Vodafone plans as published on Canstar Blue’s database listed in order of standard cost, lowest to highest, then data allowance, largest to smallest. Use our phone plan comparison tool to see a wider range of plans from other providers. These are products with links to referral partners.
What’s the easiest company to get a phone contract with in Australia?
Unfortunately, there’s no one telco that’s more likely to give you a phone plan if you’re stuck with a low credit score. If your first choice of telco rejects your application, you can try with other providers, but there’s no guarantee you’ll be approved from any one retailer.
If you’re concerned about your credit, there are also steps you can take to help you improve your credit score. These won’t fix things overnight, but can help you for future phone plan applications.
Are no credit check phone plans worthwhile?
Unfortunately, there’s no real way to know if you’ll be rejected for a phone plan until you actually apply for one. However, it doesn’t hurt to look at your own credit report; it’s often free if you look at it once a year.
If you’ve been knocked back for a phone plan, there’s no need to panic. There are still options, such as a cheaper phone plan or a prepaid phone plan that can equip you with the latest deals.
Fortunately, if you’ve had a brush with bad credit in the past, it won’t hang around forever – 7-10 years is usually the maximum credit reporting agencies can assess.
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