Verizon Wireless to Charge $2 ‘Convenience Fee’ on Bill Payments

Just a day after a third outage across the U.S. was reported with regards to the company's new 4G LTE wireless service, Verizon Wireless Thursday dropped a bomb on its customers by announcing its decision to charge a $2 convenience fee on payments.

The country's largest mobile network operator said in a press release that Verizon subscribers would be charged a $2 convenience fee for every credit card payment made over the phone or online starting Jan. 15.

The fee won't apply to customers who have enrolled in the AutoPay plan or who use electronic checks. Customers who use their own banking service Web site, paper checks and gift cards and those who pay the bill at a Verizon store or a kiosk will not have to pay this fee.

Version said that customers would receive a notification of the fee each time a single transaction was made.

The company offered explanation for the new charge by saying, The fee will help allow us to continue to support these single bill payment options in these channels and is designed to address costs incurred by us for only those customers who choose to make single bill payments in alternate payment channels.

The new charge fueled rage among many Verizon subscribers who expressed their grievances on the Web. Some customers termed the fee as ridiculous while others were trying to file online petitions.

This isn't the first time the network company has left customers fuming with respect to new charges. Last year, Verizon Communications proposed a new $3.50 charge for payments on FiOS TV or Internet service month-to-month. After a series of customer complaints, the fee was waived off.

As for the new charge, Verizon seems to be following in the footsteps of other service providers such as Comcast. Rival AT&T has not yet announced plans to charge fees for electronic payments. The company is said to offer $10 gift cards to customers who set up automatic payment accounts, according to an Associated Press report.