Virgin Plus is the latest wireless provider in Canada to artificially increase prices by adding an automatic payment discount to plans.

The Bell-owned provider’s website now states that prices include a $10/mo autopay credit. However, Virgin hasn’t changed its plan prices, which means that the actual cost of plans has increased.

Virgin’s current plan offerings include a $39/60GB 4G plan ($49 without autopay) and a $54/89GB 4G plan ($64 without autopay). Both plans include unlimited Canada-wide calling and unlimited calling to the U.S., Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, and U.K. The plans also have unlimited international texting sent from Canada.

The $10 autopay credit also applies to Virgin’s $25/mo talk and text plan, making it $35/mo without autopay. It’s worth noting these changes are for new activations, and shouldn’t impact existing customers.

Virgin is following in the footsteps of Telus’ Koodo and Rogers’ Fido. Koodo added a $5/mo autopay credit to plans in July 2024. Fido added a $5/mo autopay credit in 2023 and increased the credit to $10/mo in 2024. In both cases, Fido increased the cost of plans to make up the difference.

Unfortunately, most carriers in Canada appear to be shifting in this direction. Rogers, Bell, and Telus all offer some level of discount for automatic payments, as does Freedom Mobile. Other value providers, like Rogers’ Chatr and Bell’s Lucky Mobile, offer bonus data for using automatic payments instead of a discount. Telus’ Public Mobile doesn’t appear to let you do manual payments at all.

It may not seem like a big deal to some, but many people — myself included — prefer manual payment options. There are a variety of reasons, but for me, the big one is that wireless providers love to sneakily increase prices and often only communicate these increases through notices tacked on to the end of bills. When I use automatic payments, it’s easy to forget about the payment entirely, and if I’m not watching my bills, I miss when prices go up.

Now, Canadians are increasingly forced to use autopayments or pay a higher price, making autopay feel mandatory instead of a convenient option. Coupled with other ways carriers are inflating prices, such as increases to roaming rates or connection fees, it feels like another strategy to nickel and dime Canadians.