PAyment with an international credit card

[Jellyfish2646]

My daughter is visiting Canada for 5 months and I would like to give her the very best mobile service. Unfortunately Public mobile only allows U.S. or Canadian Credit cards for payment. No international cards I use normally in Canada or U.S.  are accepted.

why is that? and what alternative do I have?

[smiley3]

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@Jellyfish2646 wrote:

My daughter is visiting Canada for 5 months and I would like to give her the very best mobile service. Unfortunately Public mobile only allows U.S. or Canadian Credit cards for payment. No international cards I use normally in Canada or U.S.  are accepted.

why is that? and what alternative do I have?

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You might want to consider Koodo or Telus for your daughter if you want the best.  Public Mobile is a good price, but the data is limited to 3G, so a much slower network than the other companies!

[will13am]

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@iPhoneUser wrote:

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@Korth wrote:

@iPhoneUser wrote:
You can buy a Sim Online at PM using PayPal!!  I just tried. Wonder if they would be forced to ship worldwide? Or can they control their PayPal process to ship to Canada or USA only?

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It's basically a standard wallet-sized plastic card inside an almost standard letter-sized paper envelope. Used to just deliver by Canada Post.

But who knows? PM might refuse international shipping. Or they might choose UPS or Fedex or carrier pigeons or hot air balloon or message-in-a-bottle at high tide.

But a PM SIM card wouldn't be much use outside Canada.

Except maybe to foreign scammers and spammers?

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Other than for. 

Foreign students in Canada 

Frequent cross border shoppers in Canada 

Frequent cross border workers in Canada 

Long stay vacationers in Canada 

Stewardesses  

Rich reverse snow birds. 

etc. 

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Allow me to inject some political correctness into your list.  They are referred to as flight attendants.

[darlicious]

@Jellyfish2646 

The only other option would be for your daughter to get a koho prepaid card. This is a virtual Canadian bank with a prepaid "visa" card. By signing up to "save money" and supplying her Canadian address they will send her a card she can use on public mobile, pay for purchases like a debit card or use on the internet like a credit card. It can be loaded by etransfer and earns a minimum 0.5% cash back. It takes about 5 minutes to sign up and about 5 days to arrive in the mail.

[iPhoneUser]

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@Korth wrote:

@iPhoneUser wrote:
You can buy a Sim Online at PM using PayPal!!  I just tried. Wonder if they would be forced to ship worldwide? Or can they control their PayPal process to ship to Canada or USA only?

---

It's basically a standard wallet-sized plastic card inside an almost standard letter-sized paper envelope. Used to just deliver by Canada Post.

But who knows? PM might refuse international shipping. Or they might choose UPS or Fedex or carrier pigeons or hot air balloon or message-in-a-bottle at high tide.

But a PM SIM card wouldn't be much use outside Canada.

Except maybe to foreign scammers and spammers?

---

Other than for. 

Foreign students in Canada 

Frequent cross border shoppers in Canada 

Frequent cross border workers in Canada 

Long stay vacationers in Canada 

Stewardesses  

Rich reverse snow birds. 

etc. 

[Korth]

@iPhoneUser wrote:
You can buy a Sim Online at PM using PayPal!!  I just tried. Wonder if they would be forced to ship worldwide? Or can they control their PayPal process to ship to Canada or USA only?

---

It's basically a standard wallet-sized plastic card inside an almost standard letter-sized paper envelope. Used to just deliver by Canada Post.

But who knows? PM might refuse international shipping. Or they might choose UPS or Fedex or carrier pigeons or hot air balloon or message-in-a-bottle at high tide.

But a PM SIM card wouldn't be much use outside Canada.

Except maybe to foreign scammers and spammers?

[iPhoneUser]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@iPhoneUser wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 @iPhoneUser 

Visa Debit is pretty much like a debit card and so it would definitely have an address attached. I don't know about it's other features as I don't bank with any Big 5 and my bank doesn't offer one.

The couple online voucher vendors can be purchased from anywhere connected to the internet.

SIM from here is available via Paypal. iirc only to Canada.

There have been odd reports that Mastercard Debit also works but it doesn't appear to be officially mentioned

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You’re correct. You can buy a Sim Online at PM using PayPal!!  I just tried. Wonder if they would be forced to ship worldwide? Or can they control their PayPal process to ship to Canada or USA only?

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I don't think you can put in a non-Canadian address.

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Most vendors using PayPal the address will automatically default to the PayPal address on the account.  

Any Americans here?

[Anonymous]

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@iPhoneUser wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 @iPhoneUser 

Visa Debit is pretty much like a debit card and so it would definitely have an address attached. I don't know about it's other features as I don't bank with any Big 5 and my bank doesn't offer one.

The couple online voucher vendors can be purchased from anywhere connected to the internet.

SIM from here is available via Paypal. iirc only to Canada.

There have been odd reports that Mastercard Debit also works but it doesn't appear to be officially mentioned

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You’re correct. You can buy a Sim Online at PM using PayPal!!  I just tried. Wonder if they would be forced to ship worldwide? Or can they control their PayPal process to ship to Canada or USA only?

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You can't put in a non-Canadian address.

[iPhoneUser]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@iPhoneUser wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 @iPhoneUser 

The couple online voucher vendors can be purchased from anywhere connected to the internet.

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But are there not fees for these services mentioned? I don’t think good old/young Dad should add this to the process....do you?

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They charge a convenience fee yes. If you're not in AB then it's barely more than it would be in a store. But if you're in the states then you won't find any in stores there. Some prepaid "credit" card gift cards work too.

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AB...only for awhile. Be prepared to pay sales tax soon. 

[iPhoneUser]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 @iPhoneUser 

Visa Debit is pretty much like a debit card and so it would definitely have an address attached. I don't know about it's other features as I don't bank with any Big 5 and my bank doesn't offer one.

The couple online voucher vendors can be purchased from anywhere connected to the internet.

SIM from here is available via Paypal. iirc only to Canada.

There have been odd reports that Mastercard Debit also works but it doesn't appear to be officially mentioned

---

You’re correct. You can buy a Sim Online at PM using PayPal!!  I just tried. Wonder if they would be forced to ship worldwide? Or can they control their PayPal process to ship to Canada or USA only?

[Anonymous]

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@iPhoneUser wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 @iPhoneUser 

The couple online voucher vendors can be purchased from anywhere connected to the internet.

---

But are there not fees for these services mentioned? I don’t think good old/young Dad should add this to the process....do you?

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They charge a convenience fee yes. If you're not in AB then it's barely more than it would be in a store. But if you're in the states then you won't find any in stores there. Some prepaid "credit" card gift cards work too.

[iPhoneUser]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 @iPhoneUser 

The couple online voucher vendors can be purchased from anywhere connected to the internet.

---

But are there not fees for these services mentioned? I don’t think good old/young Dad should add this to the process....do you?

[iPhoneUser]

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@AresPalace wrote:

You can try paying your phone plan with a prepaid credit card. I know VISA prepaid credit card works well with PM.

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Re Visa prepaid credit card......are you sure on that? PM says a Visa debit card. 

See Visa debit card here.

[Anonymous]

 @iPhoneUser 

Visa Debit is pretty much like a debit card and so it would definitely have an address attached. I don't know about it's other features as I don't bank with any Big 5 and my bank doesn't offer one.

The couple online voucher vendors can be purchased from anywhere connected to the internet.

SIM from here is available via Paypal. iirc only to Canada.

There have been odd reports that Mastercard Debit also works but it doesn't appear to be officially mentioned

[iPhoneUser]

Don’t ask me why....

But there seems to be 2 qualifiers to pay for Public Mobile 

1. Type of approved payment. 

2. Origin of country of approved payment. USA or Canada only. 

PM says:

We accept the following credit cards, registered to a Canadian address: VISA, MasterCard and American Express. We also accept VISA debit cards and Public Mobile Payment Vouchers.

PM unofficially says (but is on web site but missing in the get started page):

We accept the following credit cards, registered to a USA address: VISA, MasterCard and American Express. As recently confirmed by @Tiana_V 

But does a Visa debit card have an address attached? To be honest, I am vague at knowing what a Visa debit card is but have read, most but not all of the big 5 have them and they are linked to a bank account and you use the Visa debit card like an ATM/Debit card? Why bother.....don’t get mad at me...I guess there is a good use for them but I see no value to having one.  And is a Visa debit card the same as a Visa prepaid card?  Is there some confusion on this?

It is unlikely that a payment voucher would be available to purchase in USA. But that is obvious and a non issue. 

Paypal would be good but that makes that payment worldwide. Out of the realm for PM. And the address could be fake....but not likely.

So are payment options the same for purchasing a SIM card online direct from Public Mobile? I could see a shipping issue if sold to some far off country. And what is the processing cost for PayPal vs their approved methods.  

Personally if I am in doubt with an online  purchase, like Rock Auto, and they offer PayPal.....I logically use PayPal. 

And Dad. Since you don’t have overages to pay on PM.....do your daughter a favour, set the Sim up for her,  pay the account for her and ask her to pay you back. 😀😀

[Korth]

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@mimmo wrote:

Not sure the reasoning, but I think it's common practice for the industry.

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Accepting Visa/MasterCard/Amex, debit/interac, e-debit, and cash is the common standard in pretty much every other service industry, utility, or institution.

PM obviously can't handle raw cash with online-only format. And they obviously don't want to deal in crypto.or foreign currencies.

But it's utterly ridiculous for them to not accept mainstream options like PayPal.

[mpcdesign]

@Jellyfish2646 , you can also use your own credit card. Who doesn't want 'daddy' to pay for their cell phone bill?!

What you can do, is check in the account:

1. Self-serve.
2. Click on 'Make a Payment'
3.  Make a Payment Dialog box will open. Enter Credit card information and enter the desired amount of cash. So, if you are doing the $40 plan x 5 months plus taxes.
4. When the payment shows up, it will show up as 'Available Funds.' See my available funds of $62.00. 
5. Now, go back to the 'Make a Payment' and delete that credit card information.
6. When she leaves Canada, either get a small plan to keep the phone number active, or keep a small number of available funds for an autopay (get an extra discount of $2 a month if set-up) or let the plan run out.

[AresPalace]

You can try paying your phone plan with a prepaid credit card. I know VISA prepaid credit card works well with PM. You can buy prepaid credit cards at pretty much any corner store, gas station or supermarket. 

Or you can try PM vouchers. You can buy them at any place that also sells prepaid credit cards. 

[geopublic · Accepted solution]

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@Jellyfish2646 wrote:

My daughter is visiting Canada for 5 months and I would like to give her the very best mobile service. Unfortunately Public mobile only allows U.S. or Canadian Credit cards for payment. No international cards I use normally in Canada or U.S.  are accepted.

why is that? and what alternative do I have?

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@Jellyfish2646  If it's only 5 months why not Purchase a voucher to cover the plan cost for the 5 months that your daughter will be using it. Just need to activate the PM sim card fund the account with the voucher and that is it. Once the 5 months are up the account will get suspended and automatically close after 90 days. That way no worries about removing any CC card on file or disabling AuoPay after the 5 months are up.

You can purchase vouchers with your International Credit card at any of these locations:

[kselmak]

@Jellyfish2646 

You can get the prepaid card for her, vanilla works, myvanilla doesn't.

She can give you cash and you can use your own credit card, it doesn't have to be her credit card. Or even done other relative too. Even if you register a credit card, she doesn't have to use it, she can top up with voucher before due date so that autopay doesn't executer so the card may be empty

[gblackma]

@Jellyfish2646 You can either buy vouchers from gas stations, grocery stores etc.  and use them for the plan or you can set it up using Visa debit if you have it. Another option is to use a site such as recharge.com 

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@Jellyfish2646 wrote:

My daughter is visiting Canada for 5 months and I would like to give her the very best mobile service. Unfortunately Public mobile only allows U.S. or Canadian Credit cards for payment. No international cards I use normally in Canada or U.S.  are accepted.

why is that? and what alternative do I have?

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[Jb456]

She can go to many locations like esso, corner store and buy a top up voucher. See link below with all kinds of locations.

https://publicmobile.ca/en/on/payment-voucher

Also recharge.com you can buy online they even take Paypal.

When you get a new sim for her..and activate don't forget to add a referral code for a $10 sign up bonus.

[mimmo]

Not sure the reasoning, but I think it's common practice for the industry.

You can buy vouchers from stores that sell sim cards or even gads stations and top up with them .  Or you can use recharge.com but they charge a service fee.