T-Mobile retained fewer customers who moved from postpaid to prepaid
Share of Q3 2025 postpaid leavers who by Q2 2026 chose prepaid or another low-cost mobile brand owned by their former carrier; card payers observed in both periods
Share moving to a brand owned by the former carrier
Source: YipitData U.S. debit/credit card panel. Observable postpaid bases: T-Mobile n=174,008; Verizon n=189,701. Switchers: T-Mobile n=4,554; Verizon n=6,717. Data through Aug. 15, 2026. Prepaid payments made with cash or another card are not observed.
Chart data
| Series | Share moving to a brand owned by the former carrier |
|---|---|
| Verizon | 50.2% |
| T-Mobile | 33.1% |
Were T-Mobile leavers more likely than Verizon leavers to choose prepaid?
Yes. Prepaid or other low-cost mobile brands received 44.9% of T-Mobile switchers and 37.8% of Verizon switchers. Competitors’ prepaid brands received 30.1% of T-Mobile switchers, compared with 18.8% of Verizon switchers. These are destination shares among customers whose carrier payments remained observable in both periods, not company-wide churn rates.
How did movers to prepaid compare with retained customers?
T-Mobile customers who later moved to Metro by T-Mobile or Mint Mobile averaged $105.43 per month in Q3 2025, while those who moved to a competitor prepaid brand averaged $110.59. Retained customers averaged $152.98, and customers who switched to another postpaid carrier averaged $139.89. The lower bills identify a lower-bill segment but do not establish that pricing caused the move.
Assumptions & Methodologies
We analyzed YipitData’s U.S. debit/credit card panel for recurring T-Mobile and Verizon postpaid charges in Jul.–Sep. 2025 and carrier payments in Apr.–Jun. 2026. Observable customers paid a carrier by card in both windows. A move to prepaid meant leaving the original postpaid carrier and paying a prepaid carrier or another low-cost mobile brand; family ownership determined whether the destination remained with the former carrier’s brands. Card payments miss ACH, cash, retail prepaid purchases, and bills paid on another household member’s card. A card may cover multiple lines. Results are observed switcher destinations, not full-company churn, and the windows do not establish why customers moved.