| I remember back in 2016 when I traveled to the US to get my master's (proud latino over here). It was cold af, but the college experience was awesome: met a lot of different cultures, made some great friendships, and learned a lot... But... As every new person to a new country (in a foreign language), there are many hurdles, and it's impossible to forget how painful it was to open a bank account. It took me a painful 3 hours and several voodoo tactics with a relative to finally open a checking bank account within Bank of America. No SSN, no credit score, no records; it was as if I didn't exist. I needed the bank account because it was how I was supposed to receive my funds and live! Finally... just finally after that awful experience was over, it went buttery smooth. Love the technology that US banks provide Nonetheless, after 2 years, my study period was over and I left the US (I do visit it yearly for tourism), and left my BofA account opened with some $. As it was normal, my debit card expired, and I had to issue a new one to access my account! BoFa requires you to use your debit card PIN as a 2FA step. The problem is that the only address I have is a courier. And while I can receive almost anything, I don't know why, even after verifying my address, it never seem to reach it. Therefore there's no way to get back to your account, unless you spend 1 hour of your day dealing with customer support. In addition, BoFA has geoblocking outside the US. I have to connect through a VPN and use Google Hangouts (to prevent expensive international calls) to reach them. Just plain awful. If you asked me I do miss having a US card because there are sites that only allow you to use US issued cards. For one, I couldn't buy AppleCare for my father's MacBook because Apple wouldn't allow me to use foreign cards. I have no idea whether this service (Pana) would do any justice, but if it works as well as the founders are envisioning to, then have my blessings. We all need to be represented when we travel abroad, especially the marginalized Latino community. |