3:47 p.m. | Updated Adding analyst comment.

Verizon Wireless said Thursday that it was preparing to charge a $2 “convenience fee” for customers who pay individual cellphone bills over the phone or on the Internet.

The new policy will go into effect Jan. 15, according to a Verizon statement. Customers who pay with an electronic check or enroll in an automatic payment option will be exempt from the fee. The company said it was encouraging people to use the free options.

“The fee will help allow us to continue to support these single bill payment options in these channels,” Verizon said.

Verizon Wireless follows a trend of Internet service providers, including Comcast, that are opting to charge fees to customers for phone payments. ATT, its biggest rival, has not announced plans to impose charges for electronic payments.

Gerry Purdy, a principal analyst with MobileTrax, a market research firm, said it made sense that Verizon was charging for over-the-phone payments, because typically carriers must pay a third-party service to handle those transactions. But Internet payments are automatic and don’t require a third party, he said, so the fee is unusual.

“That’s the one that surprises me, because most people won’t charge you for paying on the Internet,” Mr. Purdy said. “When you book a plane ticket online, you don’t get charged a fee.”

Verizon may be imposing a $2 fee on one-time online payments in an effort to pressure customers to enroll in an automatic payment option, because it creates a higher probability that the payments will come in on time, Mr. Purdy said.

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