There are two main uses for having an overseas mobile phone number that roams in China. One is to register for Internet services such as Netflix that are not operated in mainland China; the other is to use overseas traffic when roaming directly in China. This article mainly introduces overseas mobile phone numbers used to register various Internet accounts. Some SIM cards also support the purchase of roaming traffic for emergency use.
1. US prepaid card
The US number preservation card has the best compatibility when registering for various Internet services. At the same time, PayPal in the US no longer supports virtual number registration, and a physical US mobile number is essential. If you want to use US services for a long time and stably, registering for PayPal in the US and linking it to Chinese credit card consumption is the most worry-free.
There are four major operators and countless small virtual operators in the United States. The market share of the three major operators Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile ranges from 23% to 33%, Dish Wireless has a 4% market share, and the remaining 10% is other virtual operators.
T-Mobile Paygo Prepaid Card
- Fees and packages: $3 per month (excluding tax), including 30 minutes of calls + 30 text messages;
- Can it be transferred to other packages: It can be transferred to other prepaid packages, but it may not be possible to transfer back to this number preservation package
- Is it eSIM-supported: Supports physical cards to be converted to eSIM
- Does it require real name: Not required
- Recharge method: Log in to the T-Mobile official website and bind a credit card to deduct monthly payments
- Main uses: Register for PayPal in the US, register for OpenAI
The T-Mobile Paygo $3 package is no longer available. Currently, only some merchants are still selling SIM cards with this package. I use the T-Mobile Paygo card on a daily basis. The service is stable, and the 30 text message quota is enough for daily use. There are also few spam calls and text messages. In China, you can turn on Wi-Fi Calling. Insert the card into an iPhone or other device that supports Wi-Fi Calling, and you can use the Wi-Fi network to make calls and send and receive text messages to avoid roaming charges. At the same time, you need to be careful not to shut down the card number. Every time you log in to the official website, you need to verify the SMS. If it is shut down and you cannot receive text messages, you can only choose the recharge service.
Ultra Mobile Paygo
- Fees and packages: The package includes 30 minutes of calls + 30 text messages; Official website introduction page
- Can it be transferred to other packages: Not possible
- Does it support eSIM: Support
- Does it require real name: Not required
- Purchase channels: Offline convenience stores in the United States, purchasing agents
Ultra Mobile is a virtual operator using the T-Mobile network, with millions of users. It was acquired by T-Mobile in early 2023. Ultra Mobile is well-known in China for offering a similar $3 monthly Paygo package. The disadvantage is that virtual operators cut costs, the freeze period for recycling cards is short, newly registered numbers may also receive spam text messages, and some Internet services will identify them as virtual numbers. I have also held an Ultra Mobile US number, but I gave it away because there were too many spam text messages. Apart from this, there is no difference in other usage experiences.
Other US prepaid cards
There are many virtual operators in the United States, and there are also many operators that provide similar number preservation packages. Here we only introduce the two cheapest and most well-known ones. Because I have held both cards, I am more familiar with them. The following figure is some virtual operators and cheap packages listed by Google Bard.
2. Hong Kong prepaid card
If you think the price of US prepaid cards is high, and you just need a non-mainland card for daily streaming subscriptions and registration of overseas services, Hong Kong prepaid cards are also a good choice. Now the requirements for streaming are relatively strict. Hong Kong Netflix has already required verification of Hong Kong mobile phone numbers when updating subscriptions or payment methods. Hong Kong Spotify subscriptions also only support Hong Kong bank cards or Hong Kong PayPal. Having a Hong Kong mobile phone card will be a lot more convenient. At the same time, Hong Kong prepaid card packages are flexible. You can also buy traffic alone for overseas travel, or you can buy mainland roaming traffic for emergency use.
There are four major operators in Hong Kong: HKT-CSL, China Mobile CMHK, Hutchison’s 3 Hong Kong, and Sun Hung Kai’s SmarTone, with market shares ranging from 10-30%; the total market share of other virtual operators that lease lines is around 20%. Hong Kong mobile phone card packages are relatively flexible, divided into prepaid cards and on-site (postpaid, with a contract period). If you don’t live in Hong Kong, you can just use prepaid cards for daily use. The purchase channel is also convenient. You can buy it at the operator’s store or convenience store when traveling to Hong Kong, or you can ask friends to bring it back from Hong Kong or buy it on your behalf. From 2023, all Hong Kong prepaid cards will require real-name authentication before they can continue to be used.
Club Sim under Hong Kong CSL
- Fees and packages: The face value of the prepaid card is about HK$58; the minimum consumption is HK$6, and the validity period is extended for 365 days
- Does it support eSIM: Support
- Does it require real-name registration: Yes, you can use your passport or Hong Kong and Macau Pass to register your real-name registration
- Purchase channel: Official website reservations can be delivered to Hong Kong addresses, and can be purchased at operator stores and Hong Kong convenience stores
- Recharge method: Official website
A virtual operator brand under CSL, focusing on travel SIM. Because of its low holding cost, it is currently the most popular Hong Kong number preservation prepaid card. Club Sim can be directly ordered from the official website and mailed to a Hong Kong address (you need to purchase a package of more than 50 Hong Kong dollars to mail the physical card) or directly choose to activate eSIM. Because eSIM is not currently mainstream in the mainland, it is assumed that everyone needs to purchase a monthly package of 58 Hong Kong dollars to get this card. It supports real-name mobile phone number portability and can convert the physical card to eSIM in the operator app.
Hong Kong Fortress Haha Card
- es and packages: Prepaid card face value 50 Hong Kong dollars; recharge can extend the validity period by 365 days
- Is eSIM supported: Not supported
- Is real name required: Yes, you can use your passport or Hong Kong and Macau Pass to provide real name
- Purchase channel: Official website reservations can be delivered to Hong Kong addresses, and can be purchased in Hong Kong Fortress stores
- Recharge method: haha TRAVEL app
Fortress is the largest electrical appliance chain store in Hong Kong, similar to Suning in the mainland. Haha card and Club SIM have the same positioning, both are travel SIM cards, and the international roaming rates can be seen on the official website. The actual price is not low. However, it is still good to use it as a number preservation card and temporary data card in the mainland. Because Haha card is not Fortress’s main business, and Fortress is only a virtual operator, it is not as stable as Club Sim.
CMHK Wanzhong Card
- Fees and packages: Prepaid card face value; minimum recharge of HKD 50, extended validity for 180 days
- Can it be transferred to other packages: Optional prepaid packages or on-line; roaming traffic in the Mainland cannot be purchased by default
- Is it eSIM supported: Not supported yet
- Is real-name required: Yes, supports passport or Hong Kong and Macau Pass real-name
- Purchase channel: Official website reservation can be delivered to Hong Kong address, and can be purchased at operator stores and Hong Kong convenience stores
- Recharge method: Official website; WeChat public account China Mobile HK
CMHK Wanzhong Card is the cheapest prepaid card of CMHK. It is valid for 180 days after opening the card. Recharging 50 Hong Kong dollars can extend the validity period by 180 days. It was quite popular before, and I also hold one. However, due to policy reasons, Taobao and other platforms no longer sell it, and the need for real-name registration has greatly reduced the popularity of this type of card. I only occasionally use the idle balance to buy a data package when I go to Hong Kong. When I update my credit card payment information on Netflix in Hong Kong, I receive a verification code. It overlaps with the functions of American prepaid cards and is rarely used. If you have held a similar CMHK prepaid card before, you can consider porting the card to Club Sim. I plan to port the number after purchasing an eSIM phone.
3 Hong Kong International Universal Card
- Fees and packages: Prepaid card face value; minimum recharge of HKD 50, extended validity period 365 days
- Can other packages be transferred: optional prepaid packages or on-line
- Is eSIM supported: supported
- Is real name required: required, supports passport or Hong Kong and Macau Pass real name
- Purchase channel: Official website reservation can be delivered to Hong Kong address, can be purchased at operator stores and Hong Kong convenience stores
- Recharge method: Official website
3 Hong Kong prepaid card and CMHK prepaid card are not much different. Because they are all traditional operators, they are not much different, and it is convenient to buy them.
Other traffic cards in Hong Kong
All operators in Hong Kong have launched Greater Bay Area cards, which can be used in the mainland and Hong Kong and Macau. If you need to go to Hong Kong frequently, the most cost-effective one is a 10-20GB prepaid card with a face value of about HK$200 and a validity period of one year. There are vendors selling various types of packages at the ports in Shenzhen. If you are interested, you can also go offline to learn about it.
- CMHK Greater Bay Area 365-day data card
- CMHK 5G Mainland China 15GB 365-day data card
- China Unicom Hong Kong, which claims to be the largest virtual operator in Hong Kong, Mainland and Macau 365-day Internet card
3. Macau Prepaid Card
Macau is a small region, and the operator is basically CTM Macau Telecom. Others such as 3 Macau, SmarTone and China Telecom Macau have a low market share. Only CTM Macau Telecom and China Telecom Macau have 5G licenses in Macau, and the cards of these two companies have also begun to support 5G roaming in the mainland. Phone cards in Macau, including prepaid cards, require real-name registration, and China Telecom Macau requires real-name registration + facial recognition. According to personal experience, using Macau prepaid cards as daily emergency traffic cards is a good choice. If it is only used to register for Internet services, there may be more limitations. PayPal, YouTube Premium, etc. do not provide services in Macau, and some Internet services do not have Macau as an option when registering.
CTM Chill Card
- Fees and packages:
- Prepaid card face value 100/200 MOP; minimum top-up 50 MOP, extended validity 180 days
- The default includes the “Individual” plan, with a monthly charge of 10 MOP; this monthly fee will be automatically cancelled when the balance is insufficient
- Can it be transferred to other packages: This prepaid card cannot be used on the platform, and mainland residents cannot use CTM
- Does it support eSIM:
- Yes, newly purchased eSIM needs to be activated under CTM base station signal; the card fan group provides other ways to activate eSIM in the mainland; you can also contact customer service directly for real-name activation
- Physical card and eSIM cannot be converted to each other
- Is real name required: Yes, it supports passport or Hong Kong and Macau Pass real name. If there is no entry and exit record in Macau, the real name of the ID card is required
- Purchase channel:
- Operator outlets
- Convenience stores, all Circle-K and 7-Eleven convenience stores in Macau should be able to buy it. For a specific list, please check the official website
- Vending machines, there are CTM vending machines in Macau city and ports, which support direct payment of 100 Macau patacas or Hong Kong dollars in cash (1:1 exchange between Hong Kong dollars and Macau patacas), but do not support change; the address of the vending machine can be found on the app CTM Buddy.
- Other purchasing methods
- Recharge method: Official website
Note: This card is quite popular in China. I saw a vending machine when I was traveling in Macau, but I didn’t buy it because I didn’t have any actual need. CTM Chill card also supports the purchase of two or more cards at the same time, and the traffic can be transferred to each other so that the traffic will not expire. If you need it, you can search it yourself.
China Telecom Macau Prepaid Card
There are two types of China Telecom Prepaid Cards
China Telecom Macau Red Card Easy+ Prepaid Card
- The daily fee of 2 MOP includes 4GB of high-speed data/month + unlimited low-speed data (only the speed of sending WeChat messages)
- The daily fee of 3 MOP includes 10GB of high-speed data/month + unlimited low-speed data (only the speed of sending WeChat messages)
China Telecom Macau Blue Card Greater Bay Area Non-expiring Prepaid Card
The official page notes that roaming in the mainland does not support 5G. Non-expiring traffic is just a marketing term. Prepaid cards need to be recharged with 50 Macau patacas to extend the validity period by 180 days.
- 98 MOP to buy 10GB of non-expiring data
- 188 MOP to buy 10GB of non-expiring data
- 288 MOP to buy 10GB of non-expiring data
The purchase method, recharge method, etc. are not much different from those of Macau Telecom, so I will not go into details here.
Issues about the daily use of Macau data cards
I have used the traffic card launched by China Telecom Macau for about 4 years and cancelled it in 2023. 5G is not supported in the mainland (NSA 5G is now supported in roaming in the mainland, and the actual experience should be poor). All traffic will be transferred in Macau, and there are many problems in the actual experience.
- Roaming in the mainland does not support 5G, and the experience is poor when paired with an iPhone with poor signal; many domestic services load slowly; services such as Shouqianba refuse access to overseas IP addresses, making it impossible to pay small merchants, and it takes a minute to switch to other cards to access the Internet;
- Even if YouTube Premium is activated, offline playback is still not available using a Macau IP address; when registering for some mainstream services, there is no option for Macau mobile phone numbers;
If the above minor problems do not affect your daily use, and you need to use roaming traffic in China on a daily basis, Macau prepaid cards are a cost-effective choice, and business people can also consider China Telecom Macau’s launch plan.
4. UK prepaid card
I don’t hold any UK cards for the time being, so my knowledge of UK cards comes from the Internet. There may be inaccuracies, please point them out in the comments.
giffgaff prepaid card
- Fee and package:
- You can apply for a SIM card for free on the official website, and it supports surface mail to mainland China
- You only need to make a call or send a text message once every 180 days to extend the validity period. You don’t need to recharge to extend the validity period. Just make sure there is a balance on the card number
- Can I switch to another package: Yes
- Is it eSIM-enabled: Yes, you can switch to eSIM in the operator app after switching to a UK IP address
- Does it require real-name registration: No
- Purchase channel: Booking on the official website can deliver to global addresses, by ordinary mail
- Recharge method: Official website
giffgaff is a virtual operator under O2, the second largest operator in the UK, and currently has a market share of 4.8% in the UK. Because it can send SIM cards to all parts of the world for free, and because it has low holding costs and does not require real names, it is very popular. Compared with other unconventional virtual operators, giffgaff’s overall stability should be much better.
CMLink UK Prepaid Card
CMLink is an international service launched by China Mobile. It mainly has two types of services. One is to provide services to Chinese people in the UK, Japan, Thailand, Italy and other places as a virtual operator. The price is similar to that of local operators. The advantages are that it provides Chinese customer service, can receive cards at domestic addresses, and can be bound to mainland mobile phone numbers, etc., which is suitable for Chinese users living in local areas. Another type of service is international travel SIM, which directly purchases traffic packages for destinations around the world, calculated on a daily basis.
- Fees and packages: 18 pounds/year, including 200 minutes of voice, 200 text messages, 12GB of traffic (available in the UK, EU, mainland China and Hong Kong), valid for 365 days; official website introduction page
- Can I switch to another package: Yes
- Is it eSIM-enabled: Theoretically
- Does it require real-name registration: Yes
- Purchase channel: Official website reservations can be sent to the mainland, but cannot be activated in the mainland, and must be activated in Hong Kong
- Recharge method: Official website
The only drawback of CMLink UK prepaid card is that it cannot be directly activated in mainland China. It is suitable for users who need to go abroad.
5. Thailand Prepaid Card
Because the Thai AIS card is quite popular, here is a brief introduction to the Thai card. The three major operators in Thailand, AIS, DTAC, and TrueMove, have a market share of about 5:3:2, accounting for 99% of the market share, and the package configuration and price are very similar. When traveling, the coverage of the three major operators in large cities and tourist attractions is almost the same, so you can buy whichever is cheaper. The most well-known one is DTAC’s happy tourist card.
There is almost no difference in the packages of the three major operators in Thailand. You can see the packages classified by day/traffic/region in the app, which are very detailed and dazzling. If you are going to Thailand or Southeast Asia for a few days, you can buy a data package valid for a few days separately; if you want to use roaming traffic in China, enter the destination as China, and you can buy a data package. The overall price advantage is not great. The way to extend the validity period of a prepaid card is also relatively simple. The minimum recharge amount can generally be extended for 30 days, or use USSD (dial a number like *1012# to purchase operator services) to pay directly to extend the validity period.
AIS SIM2FLY card is well-known because of its “high cost-effective” 2699 baht 15GB global data package (valid for 365 days). In fact, the three major operators in Thailand have similar packages. The DTAC official website has 2699 baht 17GB global data (valid for 365 days). It should be that domestic dealers have good profits on prepaid cards, so they strongly promote it in China. If you often go to Southeast Asia, you can buy a prepaid card from a Thai operator and renew it for long-term use. You can open international roaming and buy emergency data in China, and you can also use it to register for various services. There is no need to buy a global data card specifically.
AIS SIM2FL
- Fee and package:
- Prepaid card face value; recharge a minimum of 10 Thai baht (about 2 RMB) for 30 days; after 90 days of use, the card can be extended for a fee;
- You can purchase various types of packages, please check the official website for details
- Can it be transferred to other packages: The packages are flexible. After recharging, you can purchase the appropriate package on the official website or app on demand.
- Is it eSIM-supported: Supported; in theory, the physical card can be transferred to eSIM
- Is real name required: Not required
- Purchase channel: Because it is a travel SIM card, it can be purchased through Taobao and other channels, and can be activated in the mainland
- Recharge method: Official website or WeChat official account AIS Thailand’s leading operator
I personally think that the AIS SIM2Fly prepaid card is a scam, so I haven’t actually used it. The only Thai card currently in use is the DTAC prepaid card, so the introduction is not detailed enough. There are many introduction articles on WeChat public accounts. If you need to buy it, you can search it yourself.
DTAC Prepaid Card
- Fee and Package:
- Prepaid card face value; recharge for 30 days with a minimum of 20 baht (about 4 RMB); after spending 150 baht on the card, you can also pay to extend the card;
- You can purchase various types of packages, please check the official website for details
- Can it be transferred to other packages: The packages are flexible. After recharging, you can purchase the appropriate package on the official website or app on demand
- Support eSIM: Yes; in theory, the physical card can be converted to eSIM, but it needs to be operated in the operator’s store, and I haven’t tried it yet
- Does it require real name: No
- Purchase channel: Because it is a travel SIM card, it can be purchased through Taobao and other channels, but it needs to be activated in Thailand
- Recharge method: Official website or DTAC app; supports recharge by binding Visa/Mastercard cards issued in the mainland
DTAC prepaid cards do not have international roaming by default. You need to use it for 180 days or spend enough money to manually activate international roaming. After meeting the above conditions, you can activate international roaming by USSD, or you can use the balance to purchase an international roaming package and then automatically activate it. So this card is suitable for buying when traveling to Thailand, and then keep this card as a fire card. According to personal experience, it is recommended to bind Apple ID after downloading the DTAC app, and then log in with Apple ID with one click to avoid being unable to receive the verification code login without activating international roaming.
Summary
- Particularly popular and almost zero card holding costs include Hong Kong Club Sim, UK giffgaff prepaid card, and New Zealand Skinny phone card (not introduced in this article).
- The most suitable US prepaid card is Ultra Mobile Paygo.
- Mainly used to register an account, occasionally need to use roaming data, most Hong Kong prepaid cards or Thailand prepaid cards can be selected.
- If you need to use roaming data in the mainland on a daily basis, you can choose Hong Kong or Macau prepaid data cards.