AT&T has launched SplitPay, a new billing option for shared wireless plans that individually bills each person involved. With this innovation, users no longer have to calculate their own charges monthly; instead, they receive a notification for their portion of the bill, minimizing the hassle, particularly for college students. Though users receive separate bills, the primary account holder remains responsible for total payment and collection from others. AT&T is looking into licensing this technology to apply it beyond phone plans to services like streaming media costs.
"College kids are Venmo-ing each other to share accounts," says Erin Scarborough, AT&T's President of Broadband & Connectivity Initiatives. "They're having to calculate account charges per line and we're taking that frustration out for them."
While the company plans to restrict its use to its own cellular network initially, it is considering licensing the technology to other companies (that would, as an example, let people sharing a streaming service split the cost automatically).
SplitPay might make it easier for people to pay their share of a bill, but the primary account holder is still ultimately responsible for ensuring any financial obligations are met.
To sign up for the SplitPay service, AT&T account owners can log on to att.com/splitpay and assign a payor to each line.
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