Examined Sep 18, 2026 Prepaid card, not cash Postpaid port-ins only T-Mobile pays a new postpaid customer $100 on a virtual prepaid card, and its own page gives two different deadlines for earning it.
The $100 is a limited-time rate, not the standing one. T-Mobile's support article says that starting May 8, 2025 and for a limited time, a new customer is eligible for a $100 card. It does not say what the reward was before that date or what it will be afterwards, and it publishes no end date. The same article says: “This program can be combined with all other promotions.”
What pays what
| You, opening a new postpaid account through a customer's link and porting in a number from another postpaid carrier | $100 card |
|---|---|
| A new line added to an existing T-Mobile account | $0 |
| A number ported from a prepaid carrier, T-Mobile Prepaid, Metro by T-Mobile or an MVNO using T-Mobile's network | $0 |
| An account or number that had T-Mobile service in the last 90 days | $0 |
| Prepaid, No Credit Check, government, and Mobile Internet or Home Internet only accounts | $0 |
| T-Mobile Fiber home internet, a separate referral program | $50 card |
The exclusion list in the support article also names T-Mobile for Business accounts with 13 or more lines and employee accounts. “Only one referral reward per account (BAN) is allowed.”
Do this, in this order
- Get the link from a T-Mobile postpaid customer and accept it first. The support article says the friend must accept the referral and register before activating a new account, and that only new accounts qualify. You accept within 14 days by following the customer's unique referral link and completing the referral form. Activate first and accept afterwards, and by the article's wording you do not qualify.
- Put the right number on the form. The article says the number ported in must be the same one provided with the referral form. It must come from another postpaid carrier and go onto a new voice line.
- Activate the new postpaid account with at least one voice line within 14 days. See the caution above for why we do not rely on 45.
- Pay the first bill and stay in good standing for 30 days. The article defines good standing as active and current. The referred friend is paid once they pay the first bill, stay in good standing and keep service active for at least 30 days. The dashboard marks a referral unsuccessful if the friend cancelled, could not complete the order, or the order did not meet the program's terms. “Referrals expire after 45 days if not completed or confirmed.”
- Claim the card and spend it. You claim the reward from a text message or in the Refer-a-Friend dashboard. T-Mobile's footer says: “Virtual cards can be used online or in-store via accepted mobile payment apps; no cash access and expires in 6 months.”
Referred person must activate a new qualifying postpaid account within 14 days of accepting referral. Referred person must maintain service for 30 days in good standing and not have been a T-Mobile customer in the last 90 days.
Where T-Mobile's page disagrees with itself, and what we could not read
The binding terms are still unread. The support article ends its rules with “See program Terms & Conditions for details.” and links no terms document. The referral site shows its terms only inside the sign-up steps, which need a customer's referral code, so every rule here comes from pages that restate the program, not from the contract. The referral site's FAQ did open when we read it on September 25, 2026, and it adds a third deadline and a later card. One answer tells the friend to activate “within 15 days of accepting the referral” and says: “After they have been active for 45 days, we will send a $100 Virtual Prepaid Mastercard”. It adds “Please allow 15 business days” for delivery. Another answer says 14 days.
Two deadlines, one page. 14 days appears twice and 45 days once, as set out above. The 45-day figure also appears as the point at which an uncompleted referral expires, which may be where the longer number comes from. T-Mobile does not say.
When the card arrives. The article says in one place that referral rewards are received within 30 days. For the new customer it gives the conditions but no number of days.
No end date, no tax line, no state list. The footer says only: “Limited time offer; subject to change.” The two T-Mobile pages we could read say nothing about how the card is treated for tax, and name no state or age limits. Whether the unread terms do, we cannot say.
The separate Fiber referral
T-Mobile runs a second referral program for its Fiber home internet, on its own page, at half the wireless rate. It pays $50 on a virtual prepaid Mastercard. The Fiber page says the referred person must activate a new Fiber account on accepting the referral, that you must keep service in good standing for 60 days, and that the new customer must not have been a T-Mobile Fiber customer in the last 90 days. That card is valid for up to 6 months, unused funds forfeit after the valid thru date, and the page says the offer may not be combined with some other offers. Do not expect $100 for a Fiber sign-up.
Is it worth your time?
If you had already decided to move a postpaid number to a new T-Mobile postpaid account, yes. Accepting a link first costs a few minutes, the reward can be combined with other promotions by T-Mobile's own account, and $100 is more than Google Fi, US Mobile or Visible, below, pay a new customer. Treat it as $100 of spending on a card, not $100 in the bank: there is no cash access, and what you have not spent in 6 months expires.
It is not, on its own, a reason to choose T-Mobile. This page compares no plan prices, because the pages we read do not state them, so we cannot tell you whether T-Mobile is the cheaper carrier for you. If you are coming from a prepaid carrier, from Metro, or from a carrier that runs on T-Mobile's network, the program excludes your number and there is nothing here for you. And because the terms themselves could not be read, keep a screenshot of the referral form and the date you accepted it.
