Optus today announced an Australian first: allowing prepaid customers to borrow $3 worth of phone credit when they run out.
Dubbed IOU Credit, the service has been designed to provide a solution for prepaid customers who run out of credit and urgently need to make a call or send an SMS. By texting IOU to 468 (IOU), Optus will provide prepaid customers with $3 worth of credit that can be used for standard local and national calls and text messages within Australia.
The $3 will be automatically reimbursed to Optus the next time the prepaid customer recharges his or her mobile with credit.
“Optus IOU Credit means customers will not be caught short when they need to make important calls”, said Optus' Michael Smith. “Research shows us that customers feel confident using prepaid mobile as a way to control spending, however they do not like running out of credit.”
Optus says the IOU Credit service will be available to for existing and new prepaid mobile customers across all rate plans. However, any unused portion of IOU Credit expires in three days and is non-refundable, and users must have less than $1.50 in credit to use the service. Additionally, only one Optus IOU Credit can be outstanding at a time..
