Originally Posted by
Thysk
I just need a US-sim to receive SMS messages in Europe, this due to BofA forcing me to approve every transfer within or to bank accounts/ credit card payments. Have looked into a simple T-mobile plan, however they charge me an extra $0.10 to RECEIVE a textmessage outside of the US. That was not going to fly. Not looking into having a expensive subscription that I don't use at all, nor getting into trouble for having to pay a certain amount for just receiving a textmessage/SMS. With my European SIM, receiving anything is free, however BofA is forcing me to get a US-number.
T-Mobile's own pay-as-you-go plans don't work at all internationally, so I suspect Ultra would be the same story.
Google Voice is free; B of A may attempt to trap for VoIP numbers, but this can be gotten around by porting a cell number to GV ($20, once) so that the number comes from a carrier's block rather than bandwidth.com's. I just logged into my B of A account to check, and I can definitely receive their verification SMS on my GV number, which belongs to an AT&T block in Michigan. Both of my GV numbers were ported in, so I can't test B of A with a "fresh" one. In your situation, I'd try my luck with a new GV number first--if that works, it's completely free.
Given the relative ease of SIM-swap fraud, ditching any financial institution that insists on using SMS for 'security' is a better idea, though.