Sign of the times: Vodafone launches IOU service

I’m pretty sure borrowing obscene amounts of money was what got us into this mess in the first place, but regardless, Vodafone are offering their customers the chance to owe the company money. Yes, you too can get in debt, thanks to their new IOU service.

Tenuous links to the present economic woes aside, it’s actually not a bad idea. PAYG customers who run out of credit can now ‘borrow’ an extra £2 credit, which is then deducted from their next top up (there’s also a 30p charge deducted). The credit can be used for voice, texts or data charges, so if you do find you’re in the kind of emergency situation that can only be solved by downloading Britney’s Womanizer, you’ll be fine.

To initially set the service up, you need to text or call 468, and after that you can text the number to find out how much of your IOU you’ve got left.

Just don’t let Vodafone tempt you into a conversation about subprime mortgages…

Vodafone