A minor cannot enter in to a contract, or apply for credit, so if they were to give a minor a phone service they cannot force you pay any debts you incur.

As for credit rating, I got my first phone on contract the day I turned 18, the day after I started working full time

There is no such thing as a credit rating in Australia.

You either have an acceptable report, or an unacceptable report. Only applications and adverse comments are noted.

So I guess that Credit Reference Australia should be notified of this immediately then. I'm sure they'll be relieved that they can all go home now.

You should really tell them to go home, as there is no such thing as Credit Reference Australia. There used to be a Credit Reference Association of Australia, which has changed name and ownership twice in the past several years. They were called Baycorp and now are called Veda Advantage.

The only thing they do is track and pool information on applications and any subsequent bad listings from credit providers and the Courts.

If you have no bad credit history, you have no credit history. And that's a good thing.


I'm really glad my 30 years in Finance and Banking has since paid off once.

I love forums.

Optus has an explicit age check in their postpay account validation. You will not even get as far as a credit check, etc.

Hey guys first time post, not my first time on the mac talk website though

my first encounter with credit checks/signing up for a mobile plan was when i got Optus Wireless Broadband back in february (got the bundled 2gb get 3 gb free plan, atm i'm getting 7gb / mo )..

anyways back to the topic: even though i was 18 at the time, been working full time for 6 months, no debt, had a debit card.. etc for some reason signing up would not be allowed due to my not having a credit rating.

since then in late april i've bought a car, had to take out a small loan to have enough for the rip-off comprehensive insurance.. nearly paid it off.. do you guys think that would that have been applied to my profile with optus? would it be best to try signing up @ the optus shop for some plan, then cancelling it before the signing up process is complete?

just wondering, don't want July 11 to roll around and excited me to camp out at (say, is it going to be the Sydney Apple store, or the local Optus shop?), almost get my hot little hands on the iPhone and get rejected just because i still don't have a "credit rating".
(apologies for typing in mostly lower-case, hitting shift every-so-often annoys me)

samuel

Maybe you should call Optus to see what they say about your situation. Failing that, do you have a family member or friend that could sign for you?

Please make the effort. If it's easier to read your post, members are more likely to read and respond to it than just skim over it.

Will do, don't think my dad is exactly warm to the idea of doing it once more though..

Will try to improve..

When I signed up to my Telstra mobile phone plan they didn't do a credit check, all they wanted was 100 points and proof of ABN. Took all of five minutes to set up.

On the subject of credit and applying for same; if you live in Canberra make sure you are able to supply an address interstate instead of your ACT address. A few years ago the ACT left the Uniform Credit Code and has made it very difficult to get credit. Mr Stanhope has set up a system where if you say want to borrow $20,000 to buy a car, you need $20,000 in cash in the bank.

Well not quite, but I know a bloke who applied for his first credit card ever to Amex and the lady on the phone told him depsite his $70k salary he would be best to supply an address in NSW.

And thats my story.

Not everyone has an ABN though.

I have the 100 points of ID however.

I have a business plan, which for some odd reason is cheaper than the corresponding personal plan. Ideas anyone?

You supplied an ABN. It has something to do with them being able to claim GST I'd imagine. My business phone is cheaper than my personal one.

That's harsh… a tank of fuel. I guess that's a sign of the times… it used to be giving away your first born… now it's taking out personal loan to buy a tank of fuel.

Nup, I'm an accountant and I can tell you there is no tax advantage to either party by naming the plan "business plan" or by supplying an ABN. The tax deductability is available whether you have a business plan or a personal one, and everyone pays the GST regardless if you quote an ABN.