US and Canada: Phone2 app -- a possible solution for 2FA banking codes or maybe not?

[Jingthing]

This is an interesting one.

 

The Phone2 company's core business is second phone numbers for businesses.

However, they are now heavily promoting to the digital nomad market for both a U.S. or Canadian phone number abroad AND the rather bold claim that you can reliably get 2FA codes with it!

(You can even choose your area code to match your U.S. or Canadian address.)

Why bold?

Because it's VOIP but they say it's a different kind of VOIP and as many know VOIP numbers are NOT a reliable solution for getting 2FA codes.

I do have a reference that I trust from an expat in South America that bought the service and he says it DOES work for his codes.

 

So why no try it out?

 

Not so fast.

 

There are some catches.

 

They have a Google Play app and an Iphone Ipad app, but also a web app.

 

The Google app is blocked for download in Thailand and don't even think that just using a VPN would make it viable to use here.

 

I'm assuming that it's probably also blocked for Iphone but I don't know that for sure.

 

Communicating to the company, they say that we CAN use their web app in Thailand though.

 

That's for all their services including making and getting voice calls.

 

However if you want to send SMS you need to pay a substantial fee for business registration annually. But not registering, you can still get your codes.

 

Here's the big fun point of this!

 

They have a limited time "lifetime" offer of 99 dollars which expires very soon, probably end of February or maybe they'll extend it.

 

Or you can pay by the month, about 18. The SMS registration is included with that.

 

So you see the lifetime 99 would be a good deal IF it actually works for codes AND the company stays in business.

 

Looking ahead, it's fair to assume that banks might advance to block their numbers same as VOIP over time anyway.

 

So all in all, a questionable value over time. But certainly interesting.

 

Here is the link for the 99 deal:

 

https://phone2.io/ltd

 

BTW, I did some online research on the company and it appears to NOT be a scam. In other words you will get their phone services if you pay. But of course "lifetime" deals are always a gamble and they are only saying 2FA codes should work NOW but they can't possibly guarantee that over time.

 

There is money back guarantee good for 30 days but I'm not clear if they applies to the 99 deal.

 

[bamnutsak]

Give it go, then share a review.

 

 

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, bamnutsak said:

Give it go, then share a review.

 

 

I don't want people to miss that the 99 dollar offer is a LIMITED TIME one which might end at any time.

Or it's just a scam marketing tool like an endless going out of business sale.

I have no way of knowing.

But if it is a good solution, 99 for "life" is so much better than about 200 every year.

[Jingthing]

I'm frankly surprised that there hasn't been much of a response to this topic.

Getting 2FA codes requiring a US phone number usually on an actual phone (as opposed to VOIP numbers which are very often rejected) has been one of the most notoriously difficult issues for expats.

 

IF (a BIG if) Phone2 offers a real long term solution to that via an app for a lifetime fee of 99 (limited time promotion) it seems to me this would be a very big deal for countless expats.

 

To be clear, I am NOT shilling for this company. I have very serious doubts about it. But at the very least it seems worthy of consideration and I do want to encourage people to look at their website information and comment about it.

[Jingthing]

14 minutes ago, nomad22 said:

 

A limited time offer to pay 99 dollars to an unknown company for a lifetime benefit sounds like a classic scam.  I think most people here would recognize it as such and not be interested.

Here's where I disagree.

On their FB ads they have a long list of very credible posts from potential and actual customers where there are credible sounding replies from the company. If there is negative information to a question, they openly and honestly answer those as well. 

I have received both AI bot and a personal email reply to queries.

As I said before, I have a success reference from a US expat in South America that I have been very familiar with for several years and trust very much saying he bought it and both the phone service and the 2FA codes are working for him. I have followed his advice on other expat matters to my great satisfaction.

I checked a scam finder website which rated it not a scam company.

Of course they could go out of business. 

But if they do stay in business, even if the 2FA codes turn out to not be working, at least you would be getting a U.S. or Canadian phone number to use for voice calls. 

They also have a standard pricing plan in place which is about 18 a month. So a person could sign up for that, try it out, and if not satisfied cancel, but then if the limited offer expires and they do like, they would be out of luck.

They also claim a money back guarantee for 30 days.

 

So lets go over the risks if you pay the 99.

 

They could go out of business very soon. Possible but unlikely.

They could go out of business in a year or two. Higher possibility.

They could go out of business in 10 years. Even higher but then you had the service cheap for 10 years.

 

The 2FA codes don't ever work.

Try to get a refund. Maybe you do get it, maybe you don't.

The 2FA codes stop working at a later date. I would rate that risk quite high unfortunately. 

 

But again, for people that find value in just the phone number only, not so horrible even of the 2FAs stop working.

 

[Jingthing]

Here is their main marketing page (separate from the promotion link):

 

www.phone2.io

💬1 - Phone2 | Business Phone Number - 4 users for $15/mo

 

Can someone that has an Apple device try to download their Apple app?

As said, the Android app is blocked for Thailand.

But I'm curious if Apple is blocked as well.

 

Without either the web app is the only option.

 

 

 

[treetops]

16 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

As said, the Android app is blocked for Thailand.

 

You can probably get it by using a google account with location set to USA, otherwise the apk can be downloaded from apkpure.com

[Jingthing]

Just now, treetops said:

 

You can probably get it by using a google account with location set to USA, otherwise the apk can be downloaded from apkpure.com

I looked into this. It's more complicated than that and the company recommends NOT to do it that way as well. 

[treetops]

Just now, Jingthing said:

I looked into this. It's more complicated than that and the company recommends NOT to do it that way as well. 

 

Can you expand on this?  I've used both methods in the past (for other apps) without issue.

[mogandave]

For les than $200 a year you can have an actual US phone that will make and receive calls, texts, voicemails via wifi calling 

[Jingthing]

Just now, mogandave said:

For les than $200 a year you can have an actual US phone that will make and receive calls, texts, voicemails via wifi calling 

I'm not in the U.S. 

[Jingthing]

11 minutes ago, treetops said:

 

Can you expand on this?  I've used both methods in the past (for other apps) without issue.

Sadly no. I don't have the link about it anymore. I recall issues with how Google Play store requires a payment method. The link had long steps on how to handle but it seemed too much for me to deal with and like I said the company is clear that country blocks should be respected.

Given that they do have a web app that's for everywhere, if the web app works, then not really an issue anyway.

The trusted reference I have in South America though is not in a blocked country.

[BigLek]

Forget this service. Instead, download an app called Numero, a Spain-based company that provides U.S. phone numbers capable of receiving all OTPs. You can try it out for one month for just €3.50 or get a full year at a discounted rate of €18.

 

After downloading the app, go to the main screen and click on the icon for Phone Numbers. Then choose "USA Special Offers" at the top of the list of options. From there, pick your city and then you can choose either a one month, three month, or one year subscription.

 

There are no additional fees. incoming calls and text messages are free with the subscription rates above. You only pay extra if you want to make outgoing calls within the U.S. using the app.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, BigLek said:

Forget this service. Instead, download an app called Numero, a Spain-based company that provides U.S. phone numbers capable of receiving all OTPs. You can try it out for one month for just €3.50 or get a full year at a discounted rate of €18.

 

After downloading the app, go to the main screen and select Phone Numbers. Then choose USA Special Offers at the top of the list. From there, pick your city and phone number and you can choose either a one month, three month, or one year subscription.

 

There are no additional fees. incoming calls and text messages are free with the subscription rates above. You only pay extra if you want to make outgoing calls within the U.S. using the app.

Very interesting for sure.

But have you used this for USA bank codes?

Do they explicitly market saying they have a DIFFERENT type of VOIP that does work for USA bank codes?

Standard VOIP may work sometimes for some banks, etc. but is notoriously unreliable.

If not a different kind of VOIP where they can make this claim about US bank codes, it may be cheaper but not the same value.

[BigLek]

Just now, Jingthing said:

Very interesting for sure.

But have you used this for USA bank codes?

Do they explicitly market saying they have a DIFFERENT type of VOIP that does work for USA bank codes?

If not, it may be cheaper but not the same value.

Yes. It works for all bank OTP codes too AFAIK. You can try it out for €3.5 for one month and see if it works. Nothing to lose. If it doesn't work for your particular bank or purpose, then just drop it after one month. Or if it works good for you, then you can pay €18 for a year.

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, nomad22 said:

A company like this that sells "life time" memberships will usually get great reviews at first as they try to keep the initial suckers happy to get good reviews.  Then when they have made as much cash as they can, the company will disapear and your life time deal will end up being about 3 months.  Its a classic scam.  

Very possibly.

But there is a certain volume and a certain specificity of the comments that gives credibility.

[Jingthing]

Just now, BigLek said:

Yes. It works for all bank OTP codes too AFAIK. You can try it out for €3.5 for one month and see if it works. Nothing to lose. If it doesn't work for your particular bank or purpose, then just drop it after one month. Or if it works good for you, then you can pay €18 for a year.

You didn't actually answer. 
Do they EXPLICITLY market that they have a different type of VOIP that does RELIABLY work for bank codes.

By your answer, it's obvious that they probably don't,

[Jingthing]

To be clear, I very much appreciate the more active feedback including skepticism including the seeming certainty from one member that it IS a scam.

It may be a scam and sure I can see the red flags, but I don't know how anyone can be certain.

[BigLek]

I also got a U.S. lifetime phone number for $25 from a company called Hushed. They have an app as well. It can receive OTP messages, though not from banks, but it’s still a great value.

 

For the one-time lifetime cost, you get 1,000 voice calling minutes per year or 6,000 SMS messages per year, or a combination of both. Only condition:

 

• Must use your lifetime number at least once every 6 months in order to keep your subscription active

Here’s the link to the $25 lifetime number promo: 

 

https://promo.hushed.com/lp/lifetime-3

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, BigLek said:

I also got a U.S. lifetime phone number for $25 from a company called Hushed. They have an app as well. It can receive OTP messages, though not from banks, but it’s still a great value.

 

For the one-time lifetime cost, you get 1,000 voice calling minutes per year or 6,000 SMS messages per year, or a combination of both. Only condition:

 

• Must use your lifetime number at least once every 6 months in order to keep your subscription active

Here’s the link to the $25 lifetime number promo: 

 

https://promo.hushed.com/lp/lifetime-3

Yeah, that's good but an app like this that is actually reliable for bank codes would be a big deal IF it actually works over time.  The bank codes things is the exciting part. There is nothing new and exciting about regular VOIP which are NOT reliable for codes.

[BigLek]

6 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

You didn't actually answer. 
Do they EXPLICITLY market that they have a different type of VOIP that does RELIABLY work for bank codes.

By your answer, it's obvious that they probably don't,

They don't state that they have a different type of VOIP, but it works reliably for bank codes. That's all that counts. Invest €3.5 for a number for one month and then you will know. Very little to lose. 

[Jingthing]

10 minutes ago, nomad22 said:

 

The android app gets 3.3 stars in the US android play store.  Quite a few 1 star reviews complaining.

 

Not great but I don't see anything there to be a deal killer.

[Jingthing]

Just now, BigLek said:

They don't state that they have a different type of VOIP, but it works reliably for bank codes. That's all that counts. Invest €3.5 for a number for one month and then you will know. Very little to lose. 

I don't agree. If it's just VOIP, it's not reliable for codes by definition. That includes google voice -- not reliable for codes.

[BigLek]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yeah, that's good but an app like this that is actually reliable for bank codes would be a big deal IF it actually works over time.  The bank codes things is the exciting part. There is nothing new and exciting about regular VOIP which are NOT reliable for codes.

It is exciting. Where else can you get a USA number for a one-time $25 fee for lifetime which also includes 1,000 minutes of calling per year? 

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, BigLek said:

It is exciting. Where else can you get a USA number for a one-time $25 fee for lifetime which also includes 1,000 minutes of calling per year? 

OK, that's good. But isn't Google Voice free?

Like I said, I need CODES.

[BigLek]

49 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I don't agree. If it's just VOIP, it's not reliable for codes by definition. That includes google voice -- not reliable for codes.

I just added the number to a bank. Received the code. It works. 

[gamb00ler]

40 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I'm not in the U.S. 

I'm just down the street from you... LOL.... I'm not in USA either but my UltaMobile PayGo sim gives me a legitimate US mobile number with plenty of free minutes/sms every month for my needs.  It costs $3.18/month.  I have an e-sim for local service from True.

[BigLek]

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

OK, that's good. But isn't Google Voice free?

Like I said, I need CODES.

 

The Numero number also works with PayPal. You can’t add it yourself through the PayPal app because the app will say that VOIP numbers aren’t allowed. However, if you call PayPal on the phone and ask them to add the number manually as your mobile number, they will do it. After that, they will send you a one-time verification code via text. Once you provide PayPal with the code you received through the Numero app, the number will work with PayPal going forward.

[BigLek]

1 hour ago, gamb00ler said:

I'm just down the street from you... LOL.... I'm not in USA either but my UltaMobile PayGo sim gives me a legitimate US mobile number with plenty of free minutes/sms every month for my needs.  It costs $3.18/month.  I have an e-sim for local service from True.

 

Yes, the Ultra Mobile PayGo SIM offers a real U.S. mobile number that works for receiving texts from U.S. financial institutions. The service costs $3 per month, plus tax, plus $0.10 per text for receiving text messages overseas.

 

To get started, you’d need to buy a physical SIM, which is available on eBay for around $13 plus $17 shipping to Thailand. Once you have the SIM, you can contact the company to convert it into an eSIM, then you don’t actually need to insert the physical SIM into your phone.

 

In practice, the cost comes out to about $5 per month because Ultra Mobile requires a minimum $5 balance top-up each month deducted from a debit or credit card. From the top-up payment they deduct the $3 monthly service fee (plus tax), and any incoming texts you receive overseas are charged at $0.10 each, all deducted from your balance.

 

The Numero option I suggested still comes out more cost effective at a total of €18 per year. 

[mogandave]

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I'm not in the U.S. 

I’m not in the US either, but most of my money is.