I feel like I’ve seen discussions for this, but I’ve had several times recently where I just can’t get an international card (or even paypal) to work for entertainment items (Disney plus, steam, etc.). Are there any workarounds for this? Maybe I can have a family member help me order them from within the US. That’s the only option I can think of. Grateful for any help.
I can use my Taiwanese credit card for Disney Plus. Don’t need an international one.
Aren’t things cheaper on the Taiwanese version of Steam anyway? I just use one of my Taiwanese debit cards.
Me too - I use my local credit card for Steam, Disney+, and Netflix, no problem. However, I assumed the OP is having a problem because they don’t have a local card and want to use an international card - but can’t.
Barely correlated: most of my Apple subscriptions and iTunes Store content are tied to a Canadian credit card, tied to a Canadian address - and I gather that if I changed to a Taiwanese credit card or even tied that credit card to a Taiwanese address, I’d lose access to a lot of the media I’ve bought (even though I’m always accessing it from an obviously Taiwanese location). So there’s precedent out there for needing to use credit cards somehow connected to a location. (Which friggin’ sucks!)
So I worded that a little bit weirdly, but we have a local ATM card and an international credit card, but no local credit card/paypal/etc. I’ve never used my bank card to buy stuff in person or online–just to take out cash. Can I use a regular ATM card for these things? I’m nervous about two-factor authentification, billing, etc., with a local card, but maybe we just need to get one.
1 Like
You can easily get an ATM/VISA debit card if you don’t have one already. If you only use it on reputable websites e.g. Disney Plus, you’ll probably be fine.
I always only use my US card for subscriptions now. I had a subscription that I cancelled during the trial period and that showed up with “click here to see our subscription options” and no details anywhere on the account page about my credit card info. Yet they were charging me every three months for the following three months. Because it was a TW card that I’d used, I could only argue directly with the company, which kept sending me back to their policies page, which basically said “we don’t offer refunds for any reason”. I had to use a lot of strong language and accuse them of being a scam multiple times before they refunded the money. With US cards, you hit “dispute transaction” on your app and the credit card company usually takes care of it pretty quickly, especially if you can show that you’re being charged for a subscription that you cancelled.
1 Like
Steam, I use international card.
I may just recruit family members to help me buy stuff. Some things I’ve been able to do internationally (Netflix, google purchases, etc.). Others seem to be locked (Disney, Steam). I probably could do a VPN, but using a credit card and VPN makes me nervous. I may have the spouse look into an ATM/Visa Debit card. I also haven’t figure out line pay, etc., but maybe something like that would work.
You can pay Netflix with your phone bill if you have CHT. Disney I don’t know, just use local CC. Amazon Prime Video just comes with Amazon Prime.