I hate Domain Registrars.
They're often difficult to use and are finding ways to squeeze more money out of you.
I started out with Godaddy, which was a mistake, because, not only was their administrative panel hard to use, after the first year, they wanted rip me off by charging an addition $10/year to keep my particulars private.
I switched to Moniker after that when I managed to find a great deal - Only $1/yr for privacy. I've been using them for years, and collected up to 99 domains at one point.
Recently however, they got bought out by another company. They changed the entire administrative system, which was just as hard to use but much more flexible, revamped their design, and improved their customer service somewhat. All fine and good, until they decided to increase the privacy pricing back to $4 for people with less than 100 domains. To get my old price, I'd probably need 5000 domains and above. lol.
Then, blessed Google decided to launch Google Domains.
.Coms usually go for $9.99/year. Google Domain's .Com subscription is $12/year, with privacy options included.
A reasonable $2.01 more for privacy, easy to use interface, and your domains being hosted on Google's fantastically solid infrastructure? Why not? If you're an American.
Bummer
Yes yes, it's only temporary, but I'd like to start using it now. NOW. Damn it.
There's a trick.
Google allows you to try out the system, and when you do so as a Singaporean, it tells you that you'll not be able to use it for now.
It'll say that you'll need a US billing address. More specifically, the credit card you use needs to have a US billing address. You won't be able to bluff the system either, since transactions using a US address with a Singaporean credit card isn't going to get approved.
Enter Virtual CardsVirtual Cards are gaining some traction recently, primarily due to privacy concerns.
It acts like an online wallet where you deposit funds into, with randomly generated credit card numbers you can use to make online transactions with, and then discard. Think 'disposable credit cards'.
Unfortunately, most of these services are, naturally, not free. It might be useful if you're paranoid about making frequent online purchases, but the trouble and cost isn't justified for me.
UOB to The RescueFortunately for us, UOB has a virtual card service as well.
It's the UOB American Express Virtual Pay card, and it's meant for US based merchants that only accept credit cards with a US billing address, such as BestBuy and, of course, Google Domains.
The weird thing is that according to Moneylobang, they stopped it in June'15. You also don't see it on their main site. But I successfully applied for it in December 2015, so I guess they're just not actively promoting it.
The only downside is that this is an actual credit card, so if you're a kid, or you're just starting out without a job, for example, you won't be able to use it. Also, Amex is not as prevalent as Visa/Master, though that doesn't seem to be a big issue since most large online retailers accept Amex cards.
If you already have cards with UOB however, it's free to apply. If not, I'm sure you can get the card when you sign up for the other cards as well. All you need to do is get them to mail/email you a form and mail/email/fax it back to them. You can also try clicking the banner.
So, not only is it free, you'll also get a 1% cash rebate off all your online purchases.
How It WorksIt works like a normal card. When you activate it, you'll be asked to create an account at ComGateway, or if you already have one, to link it to the card. Once that's done, just use ComGateway's US address as the billing address whenever you make a purchase and voila!
How to UOB Amex Virtual Pay with Google DomainsI suggest you do 1 simple step before you proceed with your domain transfers and purchases on Google Domains. Just go to Google Wallet and add the credit card using all the relevant details.
No US VPN and other fancy workarounds required. Ignore the US only warnings when you make your transactions and just make sure you select the right credit card when making your transactions.
How to ApplyGet a form from a UOB branch, get them to mail/email you one, or click here to apply.
