Ask HN: What's the cheapest way to receive bank SMS oversea?

3 points by chungleong 6y ago ↗ HN

I'm an American living in Europe. Right now, I'm unable to manage my American bank account as most operations require a 2FA code, which would get sent to a dead number. I'm heading stateside next week and I'm pondering how I can rectify this situation. Buying a cheapy prepaid plan (e.g. Red Pocket) is one option. I'm worried though that might not work. First, the bank might refuse to send the code to a phone not tied to an SSN. Second, the phone might not get the messages across the ocean due to lack of roaming.

Anyone has experience?

3 comments

[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 15.6 ms ] thread

enjoyyourlife 6y ago ↗

Try Google Voice or Skype (https://www.skype.com/en/features/online-number/) or Burner (https://www.burnerapp.com/)

chungleong 6y ago ↗

I've tried Skype already. It doesn't work. 75 bucks down the drain.

maharishi1 6y ago ↗

I have not tried this but if you are into programming, raspberry pi and a place to put the hardware in US with internet access, you can do that. You can buy raspberry pi with a SMS hat and program it to receive the sms and send it to your gmail account.