How do I topup when I have no internet access?

[dowtchaboy]

I'm out in the sticks, so I get my internet via 4G/5G.

Just joined Three and am frustrated at how difficult it is to top-up. I've given up trying to register my debit and credit cards so I might be able to use the SMS text method. In fact I wonder if "text TOPUP 20 to 50406" is still working?

When my credit runs out, I have no internet, or normal phone calls, so texting to the short codes is the only way I can see. Calling the given phone numbers is useless outside office hours. This wasn't a problem with Eir, Meteor, or Tesco. I have GPay in place, used it to buy the phone, and pay for topups when I had interest access, but there's no way to use that in the SMS text method. Any clues? Thanks

[Three_Niall · Accepted solution]

Hey @dowtchaboy, Welcome to the 3Community 🙂

I'd love to help get this sorted for you. Firstly I would recommend having a look at our How to Top Up Your Prepay Account article on the Community. 

If you don't have any allowances or credit to access data you will still be able to top up by logging into your My3 account or you can also call 1744 24 hours a day and top up using the automated service without needing to speak to an agent. 

If you are looking to register a card to your Prepay account you will need to log into your My3 account and make a top-up using the instant top-up as described in the above article. we also have a helpful video here that will help explain this for you. Once you have a card registered you will also have the option to top up via text by texting  TOPUP, the amount you want to top up by, and the last 4 numbers of your registered card to 50406 (e.g. TOPUP 20 1234) or you can also set up a scheduled top up and your plan will automatically applied for you every 28 days using the registered charge.

[dowtchaboy]

Thanks. I think my credit card is now registered, as the dialogue in the top up now has changed to allow a choice between GPay and a card. I didn't get to verify this as placing a topup again just to verify would have been wasting €20! One lesson is that registering a card MUST be done before running out of credit, unless you have alternative access to the internet. I'll find out for sure in 27 days when I update with TOPUP 20 1234 to 50406