How to bypass new Store (non-US) region limitations

[longlifexs]

Hi,

There have always been regional limitations to Microsoft's services. That is why I had my region set to the US, despite having my bank account in the Czech Republic and living in the Netherlands. Even Cortana alone was worth it. I could pay in the Store without problems, all it took was to set United States as the country where my card was issued. This all went to hell as new limitations have seemingly been introduced recently, leaving me with a "Try a different way to pay. Or change your Store region. The region where your payment method was issued and your Store region need to match." error.

I tried both my card and PayPal, even setting my PayPal address to the US - nothing works.

Interestingly, when I do the same thing but replace US with the Netherlands, everything works fine - if I change my region to NL, add a new payment method, which is my existing PayPal account, put in a Dutch address and voila, the purchase goes through.

I'd be really happy not to have to change my region every time I make a purchase (losing access to Cortana in the meantime, having to reset my phone if I do the purchase while on the go etc.), not even mentioning higher prices in EUR than in USD and content limitations.

Does anyone know a way how to shop in the US Store using a non-US payment method?

Thanks so much!

M.

 

[jfavellanedab]

Same in South America. You have to trick Windows in order to let you buy. With PayPal is the same.

 

[longlifexs]

Hey, thanks for the reply! How exactly do you do that - "trick Windows"?

The only idea I had is to buy a Microsoft Gift Card and apply it to your account as a payment method for the US - that SHOULD work but I have yet to test it.

 

[longlifexs]

Ok so I found one solution I can confirm is working.

You can buy a Store "Gift card" from the US Microsoft Store (you can pay by any card there, even non-US issued) and then add the card's balance to your account. You can then use the balance to make purchases in the US Store without problems as the Store credit is considered a US-issued form of payment.

A BIT cumbersome, but it works!

Hope this helps someone.