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IBM Cloud - Structured Ideas


This portal is to open public enhancement requests against IBM Cloud and its products. To view all of your ideas submitted to IBM, create and manage groups of Ideas, or create an idea explicitly set to be either visible by all (public) or visible only to you and IBM (private), use the IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com).


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Welcome to the IBM Ideas Portal (https://www.ibm.com/ideas) - Use this site to find out additional information and details about the IBM Ideas process and statuses.

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IBM Cloud Support Center (https://cloud.ibm.com/unifiedsupport/cases/form) – Use this site for any IBM Cloud defect or support need.

Stack Overflow (https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/ibm-cloud) – Use this site for IBM Cloud technical Q&A using the tag "ibm-cloud".

ideasibm@us.ibm.com - Use this email to suggest enhancements to the Ideas process or request help from IBM for submitting your Ideas.

Status Future consideration
Created by Guest
Created on Dec 20, 2022

Re-introduce a free limited time account for trial use

We have a problem. Since the demise of the Lite account, users who want to try out IBM Cloud need to provide credit card details. However, first, many people are put off adding their credit card details and second, many are being rejected, for reasons those users can't work out (myself included). While I know the Lite account was taken away because of the potential for fraud / misuse, the decision has also blocked many legitimate users who want to give IBM Cloud a no-commit try - and it seems that many who do provide card details are finding that their accounts are being rejected and closed without explanation. I myself have had a perfectly good credit card rejected when I've tried to activate a personal account.

Right now, we are running against other providers, such as AWS, Azure and GCP, who make such access far easier. 

So, I suggest we return to providing time-limited 90-day Lite accounts, which still need valid credit card details to verify them, but don't allow the creation of paid-for services (just 'Lite' and 'Free') and in return have a lower bar of overall validation to prevent the user frustration displayed in this thread https://community.ibm.com/community/user/cloud/discussion/account-deactivated-after-sending-an-email-to-verifyusibmcom-for-upgrading-account-1#bmdf2a2285-4468-49a9-bf95-b0c14c9c060b

Idea priority Medium
Needed By Quarter