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Comment by aww_dang | Hacker News Reader

Imagine thinking that dropping expats and international travelers is a good move though.

Do you think that international travelers don't have mobile phones? Really? Same for expats - most immigrants I meet have mobile phones. (I am an immigrant, and meet a fair amount of other immigrants, from various backgrounds, various income levels, and various sorts of jobs). I had to look up to see if the country I'm in even offered residential landline service, honestly.

Not everyone has a smartphone, but that's not what is required. Just a mobile phone that can receive an SMS - and phones have been doing that for 25 years or something.

roaming does not always work, or is expensive. when i travel i get a local number. my previous number doesn't even work here despite having roaming, seemingly due to some incompatibility in the network. if i needed that number to access paypal, i'd be stuck.

Paypal support informed me that I need to use a phone number from the country which I bank in.

There's nothing trustworthy about the people who issued me this current sim card. There's no reason to assume I would want to link it to any account, even if it was allowed. Even if I were inclined to trust this process and if it were possible, I'd have to be using this provider when I am in a 3rd country or in my "home" country.

It is just a nonsensical set of assumptions on PayPal's part.

why imagine? Many banks worldwide currently simply don't allow Americans to open an account with them.

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