Verizon is dropping support for carrier billing through the Google Play Store

Ben Schoon | Jan 27 2022 - 10:37 am PT

The Google Play Store offers several ways to pay for apps and subscriptions, including the option of adding the charge to your carrier bill. Verizon, though, is now dropping support for carrier billing in the Play Store.

Google has confirmed on a support page that Verizon is dropping support for carrier billing as of January 2022:

As of January 2022, Verizon Wireless will no longer be an accepted payment method for subscriptions in the US. If you signed up for a subscription through Verizon, update your payment method.

The change was first notified to users over email last week, with billing officially shutting down as of February 22, 2022. In that email, Google didn’t offer any context for the removal, though one user on Reddit was supposedly told it was due to a “security concern.”

Fortunately, that isn’t true. Verizon, speaking to Android Police, confirmed that removing Google Play billing was a “business decision” and not due to any security reasons.

Google’s statement [on the help page] is correct and stands as our statement, too. However, this is not due to any “security reason.” It’s a business decision and we can’t comment on contracts with our partners.

The support page in question has changed several times over the past week, removing others carriers such as AT&T and Boost Mobile as well. However, those carriers confirmed that was solely an issue on Google’s end, and that they would continue to offer carrier billing in the Play Store. Carrier billing remains available through AT&T, Boost Mobile, Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular in the United States.

If you are using Google Play billing with Verizon, you’ll need to change your payment methods immediately to avoid any interruptions with subscriptions or issues with future app purchases.