Prepaid option that allows UK/Europe roaming (for OTPs)?

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ros_b

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I'm travelling overseas soon and unfortunately, both my credit card and bank work on OTPs. The credit card needs an OTP to authorise online purchases. The bank needs an OTP when making payments. I'm on Cell C prepaid, which I like, but they don't offer international roaming in the UK or some European countries that I'll be visiting. So I'm thinking of getting a prepaid sim from Vodacom or MTN in order to receive these OTPs.

It looks like Vodacom offers roaming to prepaid customers, and requires an initial loading of R10 airtime in order to activate incoming SMS reception. Once that is done, will SMS reception continue even if the airtime balance drops down to zero? I'll be away for 4 months - do I need to do something else other than receive SMSs in order to keep the sim active (like make a call)?

As for MTN, I've asked them a bunch of questions on X and I'm getting different answers - one person says I need to "activate access for life extender", then I asked, "Can't I just send an SMS once every 90 days?" and one person said I must do that every month, then another said "You cannot send SMS every 90 days to keep the SIM active. It needs you to make a call. You need to have airtime to be able to receive SMSs" so I'm just confused.

Can anyone recommend the cheapest and easiest way for me to receive OTPs via SMS while I'm overseas for 4 months?

Thank you!
 
Open a Revolut account for international purchasing and then get an eSIM from the likes of saily for comms.

That is of course only a solution if your banking app doesn’t require an OTP to top up your Revolut balance.
 
Recently I went to Singapore and Thailand, I bought a eSim from Mobimatter, (Holafy and Saily are good options shop around), that covered those countries.

Then my FNB does in app approvals so no sms required. I did keep my Telkom sim active in the phone and when connected to wifi I could receive calls and sms as Telkom supports VoWiFi.

Maybe ask Cell C if they support VoWiFI and also from outside of South Africa
 
Just to say that my phone unfortunately does not take an eSim.

I do have an account with another bank that does in-app authorisations, but I prefer not to use that account. I also have a second credit card that does in-app authorisations, but again - I prefer not to use that card. So I do have options, but prize number 1 would be a South African physical sim on which I can receive SMSs while overseas for 4 months.
 
warwickw said:
Maybe ask Cell C if they support VoWiFI and also from outside of South Africa
Click to expand...
I have asked them, when I was recently in Morocco and not getting OTPs, even though I had activated "Wifi calling" - they answered: "Unfortunately, Cell C prepaid does not support receiving SMSs via Wi-Fi calling, even when connected to Wi-Fi abroad."
 
vodacom + travel saver bundle, mtn although offering the same, has very limited countries
 
The prepaid SIMs generally have full roaming turned on. Just make sure its on and leave it like that? Every so often make a call or something and recharge it monthly with even R10 to keep it moving.
Make sure data roaming is off or it will eat data. MTN i know works pretty much everywhere? Vodacom the same. Be careful of a re-branded prepaid i don't know if they would work everywhere too.

another option is change your OTP to email if you don't want in-app verifications.
 
neoprema said:
The prepaid SIMs generally have full roaming turned on. Just make sure its on and leave it like that? Every so often make a call or something and recharge it monthly with even R10 to keep it moving.
Make sure data roaming is off or it will eat data. MTN i know works pretty much everywhere? Vodacom the same. Be careful of a re-branded prepaid i don't know if they would work everywhere too.

another option is change your OTP to email if you don't want in-app verifications.
Click to expand...
OK cool, thanks for that - I wasn't sure and getting a straight answer out of MTN is proving difficult. They keep saying "You must have airtime to send and receive SMS" but they won't tell me how much airtime and keep saying it depends on the country and the network where I'm roaming. They also tell me I need to activate "Access4Life Extender" to keep the sim active for 4 months, but surely sending an SMS every 90 days would achieve that?

Unfortunately neither my bank nor the credit card company will change the OTP delivery method to email.
 
SMS Roamer works even on a prepaid SIM:

BEFORE you leave. SMS 'Roamon' to 123 or 31050.

Deactivation: When you return, SMS 'Roamoff' to 123 or 31050.
 
I don't understand what the issue is. International roaming works perfectly fine on both Vodacom and MTN prepaid. If you're concerned about running out of airtime just load a few hundred rand on the sim and forget about it. Prepaid airtime never expires as long as the sim remains active.
 
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