Verizon to begin charging $2 fee for many online bill payments

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Verizon Wireless is about to make paying your monthly cellphone bill a little more expensive.

Starting Jan. 15, the nation’s leading mobile carrier will charge customers $2 each time they pay their bills with a credit or debit card. The fee applies to so-called ‘single payments,’ when a customer is paying for an individual month, but will not apply for users who set up automated monthly billing.

The carrier, which has more than 90 million retail cellular subscribers, said it was adding the fee to help cover the costs of the many credit card transactions its processes. Card companies such as Visa and MasterCard charge businesses a fee each time they perform a credit card transaction.

But Verizon offered several ways to avoid the charge, including setting up an automatic payment system that bills your credit card each month, paying by electronic check, and paying electronically from your bank’s website.

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-- David Sarno