Money
How to make prison phone credit last.
Prison phone credit goes further on a landline. On weekdays, calls to a mobile cost them 5.50p a minute. Calls to a ringyard landline cost 2.48p.
The same money buys twice the talk. Or the same talk, with money left over.
Checked against the published rates.
How the credit works
Calls come out of their own account.
Phone credit comes out of their prison account. It shares one weekly limit with the shop.
Money you send through GOV.UK goes into that account.[6] Calls come out of it. So does anything they buy at the prison shop, called canteen.
On the Standard level, they can spend at most £21.75 a week.[7] A prison can set it lower. Sending more doesn't raise it.
The limit is on money, not minutes. So the number they dial matters more than another top-up.
What £20 of credit buys
The same £20 of credit. 443 more weekday minutes.
The number they dial sets how far the money goes.
| Number they call | Weekday rate | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| A mobile | 5.50p a minute | 363 |
| A ringyard landline | 2.48p a minute | 806 |
Or the same talk as on a mobile, with about £11 of the £20 left over.
The price
One price for the number.
You pay us for the number. Their credit still goes in through GOV.UK, as now.
If the prison refuses the number, we swap it for a fresh one, free. If that's refused too, we refund you.
Straight answers
Before you send another top-up.
Does this replace the GOV.UK Send Money service?
No. You still send money through GOV.UK. ringyard gives you a UK landline number. Calls to it cost them less. The same money buys twice the talk.
Can I use this with Email a Prisoner?
Yes. Send them the new number through Email a Prisoner. They put it on the form that adds a number to their phone list.
What if the prison refuses the number?
Tell us. If the prison refuses the number, we swap it for a fresh one, free. If that's refused too, we refund you.
Send money through GOV.UKOpen Email a Prisoner
Anything else? Email us.
Check us
- Send money to someone in prison. GOV.UK, current guidance. Read 30 August 2026. Says how money reaches their account. It usually arrives within three working days. It does not say how much they can spend each week. The incentives policy sets that. Read it yourself
- Incentives policy framework. HM Prison and Probation Service / Ministry of Justice, current version. Read 30 August 2026. Sets the weekly spending limit for each incentive level. The figures on this site are the most allowed. A governor can set a lower limit, never a higher one. Read it yourself