Transfer of billing responsibility (TOBR)

How do we run a transfer of billing responsibility so the current owner releases, the new owner accepts and passes credit, each on their own part, and the change is written to the BSS?

Give each party their own part and let the process join them. When a line is to move to a new account holder (a family member taking over their own line, an employee leaving a company plan, a line sold or given), Callvu prefills the line, the device financing, the plan and the balance, sends the current owner their part (the authentication, the release of the line with the device and the balance terms, the consent) and the new owner theirs (the identity, the credit check with the FCRA consent and the adverse action path, the plan choice, the device financing assumption or payoff, the agreement), chases each party on the clock, routes a credit decline, a financed device, a balance or a dispute to the account desk in the Decision Desk with only the allowed outcomes, and writes the line to the new account in the BSS, the system of record, with billing re-pointed and both parties notified. Live at AT&T.

Live at AT&TComplex: multi-party handoffsCallvu moves: prefill, chase and verify, decide, write back

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Last updated November 7, 2026.

The problem today

The transfer needed both people on the same call, in the same store, at the same time, with the same patience.

Today, without Callvu

A transfer of billing responsibility is two transactions pretending to be one: the current owner must release the line and settle how the device balance is handled; the new owner must prove identity, pass credit, choose a plan and sign. Carriers ask both to be present together, which they rarely can be, or run it by email with a form each, which stalls on the one who is slower. The line sits in limbo and the bill keeps going to the old owner.

The CPNI rules require authentication of the current holder before the account change and the notification of it; the FCRA governs the new owner's credit check and the adverse action; the device financing agreement sets whether the balance can be assumed or must be paid off; the carrier's policy sets the plan and the credit rules. Each party's obligations are separable, and each can complete them on their own phone when it suits them.

Two parts joined by the process is a transfer that completes in a day.

How it runs

From the requestto the system of record.

Either party asks to transfer a line (in the app, the contact center, a store or through an AI assistant), or a business releases an employee's line. Callvu opens the transfer with the line and both parties.

Current account holder: Authenticates, releases the line, settles the device balance terms and consents, on their own part.
New account holder: Proves identity, consents to the credit check, chooses the plan, assumes or pays off the device, and signs, on their own part.
Account desk: Decides credit declines, device and balance questions and disputes in the Decision Desk.
Callvu: Prefills, sends each part, authenticates, runs credit, chases, routes, writes to the BSS and notifies.

Prefill and send the parts
The line, the number, the device and its financing balance, the plan, the features, the account balance and the contract terms are prefilled; the current owner receives their part (authenticate with a secure method, confirm the line to release, choose whether the device balance is paid off now or assumed by the new owner where the agreement allows, consent to the transfer and the disclosure of the line's details to the new owner); the new owner receives theirs (identity verification on a secure screen, the FCRA consent and the credit check, the plan and the features, the device assumption or payoff, the service agreement and the disclosures, the signature).
Chase and verify
Each party is chased on the clock with the other's status visible in plain terms; the current owner's authentication, the new owner's identity and the credit result are checked; a port-out PIN or SIM change on the line during the transfer is held; a business release carries the authorized signer's approval through the corporate liable process where the line is corporate.
Decide
A transfer where the holder released, the new owner passed credit and the device terms are settled proceeds by rule; a credit decline (with the deposit or the spending limit offer and the adverse action notice through the credit process), a financed device the agreement does not allow to be assumed, an unpaid balance on the line, a dispute between the parties, or a line under a fraud flag goes to the account desk in the Decision Desk with both parts and only the allowed outcomes (complete, complete with a deposit or a payoff, hold for the balance, or cancel with the reason to both).
Write back and notify
The line and the number move to the new account in the BSS, the system of record, with the plan, the features and the device financing as settled, billing is re-pointed from the effective date with the proration, the old account is adjusted or closed, both parties receive the confirmation and the CPNI change notices, and the new owner's credentials are set through the credential process.

Where it ends: Each party completed their own part when it suited them, the credit and the device terms were settled, exceptions were decided by the account desk, and the line moved in the BSS with billing re-pointed and both parties told. The Decision Trace shows the authentication, the credit result, the device terms and any decision; the Audit Trace shows each part's completion, the chases and the write with time.

Runtime enforcement

What is enforcedwhile the work runs.

The regulations preloaded in Callvu Studio and the bank's own policies, applied as steps that run, not lines in a binder. A step that breaks a rule does not run, so a completed run was compliant.

Regulations

FCC CPNI rules (47 CFR 64.2010): The current account holder must be authenticated before the account change and the disclosure of the line's details to the new owner, and must be notified of the change; the new owner's account is established with its own password and authentication; records of the authentication are kept.
FCRA (15 USC 1681b and 1681m) and ECOA (Reg B) for the new owner's credit check: The credit check on the new owner requires a permissible purpose and the consumer's consent as the carrier's practice provides; a decline or a deposit or limit based on the report requires the adverse action notice with the report source and the rights, through the credit and deposit process.
Device financing agreements under TILA (Reg Z) and the carrier's transfer policy: The installment agreement sets whether the balance may be assumed by a new obligor (with a new agreement and disclosures) or must be paid off before the transfer; the carrier's policy sets the plan eligibility, the credit rules, the balance rules and the proration for the transfer.

Company policies

Each party completes their own part on their own device; nobody is required to be present together.
The current holder is authenticated before the release and notified of the change; the new owner passes identity and credit before the line moves.
Device balances and account balances are settled before the move, by rule or by the account desk.
The BSS is the system of record for the line and the account; billing is re-pointed from the effective date.

Controls

Prefill of the line, device and balances.
Separate parts with authentication, identity and credit.
Chases on the clock with mutual status.
Hold on SIM and port changes during the transfer.
Decision Desk for declines, device, balance and disputes.
BSS move, billing re-point, notices and credential setup.

Clocks and deadlines

Parts completion: Each party chased on the policy's schedule; the transfer expires if a part is not completed in the window, with both told.
Effective date: The date both parts are complete and the decision is made, with the proration from it.
Adverse action notice: Where the credit result drives a decline or a deposit, through the credit process.

Documents and checks

The prefilled line and balances
The current holder's release and authentication
The new owner's identity, credit result, agreement and signature
Any account desk decision
The BSS move, the billing re-point and the notices

In the Decision Trace

The authentication and the credit result.
The device and balance terms.
Any decision and the person.

In the Audit Trace

Each part's completion with time.
Each chase.
The move, the re-point and the notices with time.

The handoff

Between the front doorand the back office.

The front door

Either party in any channel; each completes their own part on their own phone from a link.

The back office

The account desk decides only exceptions; the BSS and billing run from the completed parts.

The Decision Desk

A credit decline, a device the agreement does not allow to be assumed, an unpaid balance, a dispute between the parties or a fraud flag goes to the account desk in the Decision Desk with both parts and only complete, complete with a deposit or payoff, hold for the balance, or cancel with the reason.

Proof

Live at AT&T.Published results only.

Each result is a published claim, with its code on agents.callvu.com, where its status, source and last verified date are kept.

AT&T runs close to 100 processes on Callvu, including transfers of billing responsibility, port-outs, line separations, SIM changes, activations, payment arrangements, billing, prepaid and top-ups, collections, account takeover reports, authorized user changes, device financing agreements and business account onboarding.

TEL-02 · Self-asserted · verified 2026-11-05

AT&T Business deployed 84+ processes in 5 weeks, with 34% higher order value.

ATT-05 · Self-asserted · verified 2026-11-05

At AT&T Business, Callvu worked inside the existing contact center platform with no changes to internal processes.

ATT-03 · Customer-attested · verified 2026-11-02

Questions

What buyers ask next,answered plainly.

Do both people have to be present?

No. The current holder releases on their part and the new owner accepts and passes credit on theirs, each on their own phone when it suits them; the process joins the two.

What happens to a financed device?

The financing agreement decides: the balance is assumed by the new owner with a new agreement where allowed, or paid off before the move; the account desk decides where the agreement does not allow assumption.

What if the new owner fails credit?

The credit process offers a deposit or a spending limit with the adverse action notice, and the account desk decides whether the transfer completes on those terms.

Related processes

Corporate liable to individual liable transfer Account merge and split Credit check, deposit and spending limit Deceased account holder Compared with the alternatives Try it in the sandbox All telecom processes

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