Most operators these days have expiry dates on their credit and their SIM cards. This means that if you do not use the credit you have bought within a certain time period it will disappear. Or if you don’t use your SIM card or top it up a certain number of times per year, your SIM will be deactivated. It’s worthwhile knowing what the limits are… Bundles You'll pay more for your data – As with PAYG on a regular mobile SIM it's a trade-off. Sure, you'll only pay for what you use, but on the other hand the cost per GB of data is going to be substantially higher if you don't take out a contract. Getting your data for less is the reason to have a contract, in fact, and why most people choose to do it that way Whether or not getting a SIM with minutes and texts you won’t use will still work out cheaper than using a preloaded data sim. Three SIM only – Does not supply preloaded PAYG data-only SIMs, but will provide you with a 30-day rolling contract data-only SIM There’s no monthly bill. You pay for service as you use it, as opposed to at the end of the month, so you can’t spend more than you have.

Three’s Data Reward SIM offer gives customers 200MB of free internet every month via their special pay as you go sim. The deal has no catches and you’ll get 200mb of data free every month without the need to top-up your SIM card. In the table below you can see the Pay As You Go prices on most UK mobile networks that run a PAYG service. We’ve also listed the prices for sending picture messages via MMS and call charges if you dial special rate numbers like 084, 087 and 09 numbers. This doesn’t include the service charge that you may incur on top of the per minute billing. Remember call charges like the below only apply when you are using your phone in the traditional pay as you set up. You won’t incur charges when you have got 30-day bundle. Charges will only apply when making chargeable calls to special or premium rate numbers, in which case you will need a credit balance on your account. Network Credit Expiry: Credit doesn’t expire but you need to make one chargeable call every six months to keep your SIM live.NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Ulster Bank, which are all part of the NatWest Group, will now shut at least 172 of their bank branches in 2023 and 2024. On a per-second basis, you are charged for the exact length of your call. For example, giffgaff charge their calls at 15p/minute and bill per second. If you were to make a phone call lasting for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, you’d be charged 38p for the call (that’s 2.5 minutes x 15p per minute = 37.5p in total). Obviously, finances are going to be an issue. So one of the first things that you’ll need to look for are the prices per calling minute, per text message, and per MB of data. Not all operators charge the same prices. But cheaper might not always be better, depending on what else it is you need… Top Up

Get a 30-day bundle with calls, texts & data included. Pay a fixed monthly amount which is known in advance. On some smaller networks like iD Mobile, top-ups are sold with only a 90-day validity period. So if you don’t use your credit during the 90-day period, it will expire and will be removed from your account. Our recommendation for pay as you go sim that doesn’t expire is: Asda Mobile

The Best Pay As You Go Data SIM

The UK has four network providers: EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. Each provider rents some spectrum from the Governments and is responsible for maintaining their mast infrastructure PAYG is simple and is a great choice for kids, for those who move often, or for people who prefer not to run up debt and instead to pay for what they use immediately. How can you top up your credit? Depending on the operator you choose there are plenty of possibilities and most offer pre-paid bundles that automatically recur every 30 days. With some operators, you can buy top-up cards in supermarkets, with some you need to have an online connection, with some you can SMS to get more credit, with some you can buy credit at a cash machine. You need to think about convenience here. Can you top up your credit at 1 a.m. on a Saturday morning?! Coverage Credit Expiry: None, but you must use the services at least once every 180 days to keep the SIM active. If you don’t use the SIM In 270 days all activity will be barred from your SIM card and all credit will be removed. The reason is that if there are 180 days of inactivity on your account, outgoing phone calls will be forwarded to ASDA’s automated service. So you’ll need to call them to reactive the SIM. Inbound calls and messages still work.