T-Mobile is extending the perks of its Money program to customers of Sprint, the rival telecom provider it merged with in April. Before the merger, Sprint had about 54 million customers and T-Mobile had around 98 million customers.
T-Mobile Money, which T-Mobile launched in April 2019 with BankMobile, includes a checking account with a 4% interest rate on up to $3,000 in balances, an Apple or Android app for managing the account, and a Mastercard debit card.
T-Mobile also on Monday announced two additional features in Money: the ability to access a paycheck up to two days early and to make cash deposits at participating merchants.
According to T-Mobile, which is based in Bellevue, Wash., 57% of people in the U.S. say they’ve been hurt financially by the coronavirus pandemic. More than 16 million Americans are unemployed.
“Today, more than ever, it’s absolutely critical that people keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets,” T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said in a press release. “This is just one more way we’re welcoming legacy Sprint customers into the T-Mobile family, and I’m not even close to finished yet.”
T-Mobile also said Americans paid $34.6 billion in overdraft fees in 2019. T-Mobile charges no monthly overdraft, account or transfer fees on the Money account. The company offers access to the 55,000 in-network Allpoint ATMs.
An overdraft protection program called Got Your Back lets customers go in the red up to $50 without penalty. Customers need to bring the account back to a positive balance within 30 days to use the service again.
