Using 02 in the Philippines

[TerenceNichol]

I will visit the Philippines in May for a month. I want my 02 SIM to work there because when carrying out on line banking transactions the banks send authorisation codes by text messages and I must be able to receive them. There are bolt-on things 02 provide for a lot of countries outside Europe, but the Philippines are not included.  I am very worried. 

Has anyone used their 02 SIM in the Philippines and how was it ????? 

[Bambino · Accepted solution]

@TerenceNichol It's extremely expensive: Using Your Phone Abroad → O2 Travel Search Tool | O2

You'd probably be better off getting a local sim but I don't know what the charges would be to send a text internationally, which is obviously what you'd have to do for banking transactions.

You should Google 'World sim' and see what comes up.

[madasaf1sh]

@TerenceNichol 

I worked in Manila for 3months a couple of years ago and o2 worked a lot better than the EE sim we also had..  best thing to do is for data get a Sun or Smart SIM card at the airport as it will save you a fortune.. 

If you use your phone for calls you will notice a delay at times and texts can be a bit slower to arrive, but other than that not a lot to be said.. 

Just note SMS is not delivery guaranteed to any number no matter where they are located.. 

Also most people use whatsapp and that is what I would recommend..

Link to smart https://smart.com.ph 

[Enlli]

I would ask your Bank what provision they have for authentication in such circumstances.

As mentioned SMS can be unreliable.

I don't think I have had an SMS code from my bank in ages, and I have just conducted a large transfer