Über Monthly contract (Vertrag)

A monthly contract (German: Vertrag) is a mobile plan billed every calendar month rather than per usage. The customer pays a fixed monthly fee for an inclusive bundle of data, calls, and SMS, with overage charged separately for anything outside the bundle.

Contracts come in two main term variants: 24-month minimum term (with promotional intro pricing for the first 3-6 months, then ongoing prices that are typically 30-50% higher) and monthly cancellable / Flex (no minimum term, fully cancellable each month, slightly higher price but no commitment risk).

In Germany, a contract requires:

• Identity verification via VideoIdent or PostIdent
• SCHUFA credit check - Germany's main consumer credit bureau
• German IBAN for SEPA direct debit
• German address (Anmeldung) for the contract registration

Expats and new arrivals often fail one or more of these - most commonly the SCHUFA check, since they have no German credit history. The standard workaround is to start with prepaid and switch to a contract after 6-12 months of building credit history.

Most German and UK contracts now carry a EUR 2.50 (GBP 2.50) fixed annual price rise applied every April. This replaced the older CPI+3.9% inflation-linked rises after Ofcom in the UK and consumer regulators in Germany pushed for explicit pounds-and-pence transparency.

The commercial advantages of contracts over prepaid include household bundles (EE One, Vodafone Together, Magenta One, Telekom MagentaEINS) that discount mobile when paired with broadband, and Inclusive Extras (a free subscription to Apple Music, Disney+, or Microsoft 365 bundled at no extra charge).