topic Re: How to find out SIM card's expiry date in Pay As You Go

How to find out SIM card's expiry date

NFH — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 10:29:43 GMT

I got an O2 SIM card with an intention of porting my secondary mobile number to it and using it as a second line on a new iPhone in September 2019. I topped it up with £10 for half price at a newsagent using American Express Shop Small in December 2018. I then received £0.50 from O2 Rewards some time in March 2019.

I am aware that I need chargeable usage every 6 months to prevent the SIM card from expiring, or possibly a top-up would suffice (maybe even the 50p credit from O2 Rewards). To achieve this, I yesterday used less than one megabyte of data. The balance dropped from £10.50 to £10.30, and after I restarted the iPhone to end the data session, it went back up to £10.50.

Where do I see the SIM card's expiry date? I can't find this anywhere in the O2 app or while logged into the O2 web site.

Re: How to find out SIM card's expiry date

MI5 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 10:36:54 GMT

@NFH Once activated sim cards do not "expire".

If you are looking for somewhere to tell you when the 6 months is ending, you won't find it anywhere.

You need to set yourself a reminder for 6 months from now to use more data, make a chargeable call or send a text. A top up is only required every 999 days.

Re: How to find out SIM card's expiry date

NFH — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 10:50:33 GMT

@MI5, I indeed have a reminder to incur chargeable usage, which is why I did so yesterday. Given that this chargeable usage caused my balance to go down and it then went back up to its previous level, where do I see that the expiry date has been extended as a result of the chargeable usage?

Re: How to find out SIM card's expiry date

MI5 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 11:08:28 GMT

You can't see it as it's not recorded anywhere.
I suppose customer service could tell you if you called but there is no where that is easily accessible directly by the customer.

Re: How to find out SIM card's expiry date

NFH — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 11:27:23 GMT

In that case, where do I see my usage history in order to verify that a charge (possibly a fraction of a penny) was recorded?

Re: How to find out SIM card's expiry date

MI5 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 11:32:40 GMT

Also not possible on O2 PAYG, sorry.

Re: How to find out SIM card's expiry date

NFH — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 11:41:43 GMT

@MI5 wrote:
Also not possible on O2 PAYG, sorry.

It's possible on all networks to get access to one's usage history, because it's the network's legal obligation to supply such personal data under Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation). Furthermore, Recital 63 of the GDPR gives a best practice recommendation that “Where possible, the controller should be able to provide remote access to a secure system which would provide the data subject with direct access to his or her personal data”, which in this case would involve making the usage data available in a web interface and/or smartphone app.

It would cost O2 much less in admin costs to just comply with the best practice recommendation in Recital 63, as it does for postpaid customers.

Re: How to find out SIM card's expiry date

MI5 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 11:52:42 GMT

You can call and ask and you will be given the info, but not available on app or web.