How the T-Mobile referral program works
T-Mobile's refer-a-friend pays each side a $100 virtual prepaid Mastercard, a limited-time uplift its support page dates from 8 May 2025, capped at $500 per account per year. The reward is earned only when the referred person activates a new postpaid account and ports in a number from a competing postpaid carrier.
What the program pays
What makes this program different
A reward gated on switching costs. Prepaid ports, MVNO ports and added lines on existing accounts all earn nothing: the $100 exists only for a number carried over from a rival postpaid carrier, and the ported number must match the one declared on the referral form. This is a bounty aimed precisely at customers taken from competitors, with the paperwork to prove each one.
Why it works
Requiring a postpaid port-in means every paid referral is a subscriber a competitor just lost.
Matching the ported number to the referral form makes the acquisition auditable line by line.
Deadlines at every step, 14 days to accept, 45 to complete, 30 in good standing, keep pipeline referrals from lingering as open liabilities.
A near-cash prepaid card is a stronger consumer draw than bill credit, and the $500 annual cap contains it.
What to copy
- Pay for switchers specifically if switchers are what you want; define the competing source in the terms.
- Give every stage of the referral a deadline so unfinished referrals expire instead of accumulating.
- Match the rewarded action to an identifier declared up front, like the ported number, to kill substitution games.
- The $100 level is explicitly a limited-time uplift dated from 8 May 2025; the support page still references older terms hosting that now returns a 404, so the standing non-promotional amount is not stated. Prepaid accounts, Metro by T-Mobile and MVNO ports are excluded throughout.
T-Mobile referrals, answered
How much does T-Mobile pay for a referral?
A $100 virtual prepaid Mastercard to each side, described as a limited-time offer starting 8 May 2025, with a cap of $500 per account per calendar year.
Does a T-Mobile referral work without a port-in?
No. The referred person must port in a number from another postpaid carrier within 45 days, and it must be the same number provided on the referral form. Prepaid and MVNO port-ins do not qualify.
When does the T-Mobile referral card arrive?
Within 1 to 2 business days after the referred friend pays their first bill and keeps service active for 30 days. The virtual card then expires 6 months after issue.
T-Mobile is not a ReferralFlo customer and this page is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by T-Mobile. All terms described here are taken from T-Mobile’s own published materials as at 8 September 2026 and may have changed since. Trade marks are the property of their respective owners.
Want a program like T-Mobile’s?
ReferralFlo runs the mechanics on this page — tiered rewards, qualification rules, caps and payouts — without engineering time.