Why Companies Check Your Credit
Cell phone companies, like every company, want to get paid when they provide their service. And to help make sure that happens, when you apply for an account, they'll check your credit record. They want to see if you have a history of paying your bills on time. If you have paid your bills promptly, there should be no problem and you'll get your phone. However, if you have a record of paying late or had some unpaid accounts, you'll probably be turned down. The same applies if you're young and have no bill-paying history.

Bad Credit Solution
But the cell phone companies are really only interested in getting paid and not what your credit looks like. So to help people who wouldn't ordinarily qualify for an account, they came up with bad credit cell phones. Instead of providing the service first and then asking you to pay for it, you pay first and then get the service.

This type of account is called a prepaid cell phone or prepaid wireless. Because you pay a certain amount up front, there's no need for a credit check. There's also no need for a deposit or annual contract. And of course there aren't monthly bills. With bad credit cell phones, you simply pay a certain amount to cover the minutes you'll need and then you're all set.

These prepaid bad credit cell phones also include the same type of features as with regular accounts. So you can get things like voicemail, text messaging, and Caller ID. And you can choose a plan according to how you use your phone most. You can get local plans which have lower local rates if you make mostly local calls. But if you travel a lot, you may want a roaming plan which lowers the cost of your non-local calls.

What Happens When You Use Up Your Minutes?
Whenever you make a call, the cost is automatically subtracted from your account balance. And when your account runs out, you simply buy more time, usually in increments of $5 to $10. You should also be aware, that you normally are given only a certain period(a month or so) to use the minutes you buy before they expire. However, usually when you buy more minutes before the old ones expire, the old minutes get the same expiration date as the new minutes.

You can always check your account balance to see if it's low but the the wireless companies will also warn you if it's running out. You can then buy more time either with cash at a local dealer, or use a credit or debit card over the phone or online.