How it works

1. Check Payback eligibility on Visible's site — the programme is aimed at phones that fail the compatibility check.
2. Buy one of the qualifying phones and join Visible, bringing your existing number so you are never without service.
3. Once service is active, a credit posts to your account each month for twelve months.
4. Keep your old phone. Visible does not ask for it back.

The two qualifying phones

Both are entry-level handsets. Neither is a phone you would choose on merit — they exist to get a working device in your hand at the lowest possible outlay while the credits run.

Why this is unusual

Every other route out of an incompatible phone costs you the phone. Trade-in programmes value the handset and apply that value to a new one, which is fine if the old device has resale value and poor if it does not. A phone that fails a network compatibility check frequently has little trade-in value anyway — it may be locked, elderly, or missing the bands the network needs.

Payback recognises that. Instead of pricing a device Visible does not want, it discounts the service. You end up with a cheap working phone, twelve months of credits against your bill, and your old handset free to sell privately, hand to a family member, or keep on Wi-Fi.

Whether it is worth taking

The arithmetic depends on the credit amount, which Visible determines by eligibility rather than publishing a flat figure. Against a $105 phone, twelve months of credits on a $25 plan is a meaningful proportion of the handset cost. The comparison to make is not Payback against trade-in, though — it is Payback against buying an unlocked mid-range phone outright and bringing it to any carrier you like.

Payback makes most sense if the outlay matters more than the handset. If you want a phone you will still be happy with in two years, a better device bought unlocked keeps your options open and costs less over the life of the phone.