1. A system for crediting a user account of a pre-pay communication service, the system comprising: a shared credit resource to which a plurality of users of the pre-pay communication service are authorized access and to which at least one user contributes credit; and a controller adapted to transfer credit from the shared credit resource to the user account, thereby enabling the user associated with the user account to use the pre-pay communication service, wherein the shared credit resource is specifically adapted to store credit to be used as payment for the provision of a pre-pay communication service.