Why Phone Cards Give Such Low Rates

February 09, 2010

To the end user, dialing using a calling card is pretty much the same process as placing international calls directly, but with two extra added steps. To be more specific, when you use a calling card, before actually entering the destination number, you need to dial an access number (which is provided to you) and enter your PIN number, for identification in the system. The rest is the same as when making direct international calls.

So why do we pay much less when we use calling cards, as opposed to directly dialing international destinations from our landlines or cell phones? Let's see...

Calling card providers, such as www.BananaCall.com afford to offer their customers very low rates to international destinations because they contact the carriers (the people who "own" the telephone networks) directly, and buy minutes in bulk (by the thousands) for all possible local and international destinations.

As in almost any other area, when you buy minutes in bulk you will most probably end up paying a fraction of what retailers are paying - for the same quality of the phone lines. This way, the card provider gets low per minute rates, which they can then pass on to you, the calling card user.

When you place a call using your international calling card, the provider (in this case BananaCall) will route your call through the carriers it uses, in order to get the best possible rate for your destination. This ensures that you get the same call quality as you would get when placing a direct international call - except at much lower rates, because the minutes you use were bought in bulk and paid for in advance, by the calling card provider.

This entire process is making it possible for people just like you to save sometimes as much as 90% on international calls. And the added "effort" of dialing the access number and PIN number before entering your destination number is almost nothing compared to the benefit of making high quality international calls at a fraction of the rates you were to pay if dialing directly from your landline or cell phone.