Use unwanted PAYG SIM credit to pay for apps on Google Play

Use unwanted PAYG SIM credit to pay for apps on Google Play

Did you know you can use up unwanted PAYG SIM credit to pay for apps movies and music on Google Play?
I have so far only been able to check that this works in the UK on the following networks EE, O2 and Three.

I had a few free sim cards that had been sent to me buy Three when I renewed my existing contract, companies will often do this if you have others living in your house, as they figure they might get a new customer, if you are not lucky enough to be sent free sims you can also check Poundland as they often have sims with £5 credit for (you guessed it) £1 or keep an eye out on ebay you can often pick up PAYG SIM cards with £5 credit often for £1 or less, making this is a cheap way to buy apps, music and movies.

Below are instructions of how to do it, they are fairly simple to follow.
1. (optional) remove your usual SIM from your phone and insert the SIM with the unwanted credit.
2. Start up your phone and turn on data (even if WiFi is on).
3. Open Google Play, go to My Account, Payment Methods, Add Payment Method, Mobile Billing.
4. Choose whatever paid-for app you want and make sure you select Mobile Billing as the payment method.
5. You can now stick your usual SIM back in your phone but you will still be able to charge apps to your SIM with the unwanted credit. The payment method also shows up in other devices such as tablets.
6. Once your credit has been used up, go to Google Wallet
https://wallet.google.com/manage/w/0/#paymentMethods:
on your PC and remove the mobile billing facility for that SIM card.
7. Repeat as required!

Hope that this is of use to some of you, please feel free to leave any comments or questions below

Kind regards Shanos