Guides
Why codes don't arrive, and what to do about it
Sourced guides about phone numbers and verification codes. They're written for people who aren't buying anything today, and they say when Cleat is the wrong answer.
Guide · Line types
What is a non-VoIP number, and why won't some services text one?
How services look up a number's line type before they send a code, why VoIP numbers get refused, why the check sometimes gets a real mobile line wrong, and your options, including the ones that aren't Cleat.
Read →Guide · checked September 2026
Does Google Voice work for verification codes and bank 2FA?
Sometimes, and less often than it used to. Three companies name Google Voice in a published refusal, and Google itself warns that other services may not accept its numbers. The banks people ask about most publish nothing at all. Here is what is documented, what isn't, and what to do when a code stops arriving.
Read →Guide · From abroad
How to get a US phone number when you're not in the US
The five real routes, what each one needs, and which of them receive codes from services that refuse internet numbers.
Read →Guide · checked September 2026
What each service actually publishes about VoIP numbers and verification codes
Seven companies publish an explicit rule against VoIP numbers, and they contradict each other on prepaid and landlines. Several more are quoted as if they had a rule, and haven't. Two large banks publish nothing at all. This page quotes what each one actually says, with the date it was read.
Read →Guide · checked September 2026
When the code comes by phone call instead of text
There are three kinds of verification call. One reads the code aloud. One asks you to press a key. One rings once, and the calling number is the code. Here is what each expects, and what a line you never pick up does about it.
Read →Guide · checked September 2026
What happens when Google Voice takes your number back
Google removes Voice numbers that go unused. Three things count as using one: making a call, sending a text, listening to voicemail. Receiving a text is not among them. After the reclaim date you get 45 days to recover it. Google never says how long unused is too long.
Read →Guide · September 2026
Getting a US number's texts in Telegram
A Cleat line is a real US mobile number. Link your Telegram account once. Every text the line receives arrives as a Telegram message, with the code on its own line. It is a delivery channel, not a phone. Nothing is sent from Telegram, and no call is placed from it.
Read →Guide · September 2026
Is there a Cleat app, and how do I install it?
There is no app in any app store. You install the dashboard from the browser you already have: it gets its own icon, opens without browser bars, and can notify you when a code arrives. On iPhone and iPad it has to be added to the home screen before notifications work, which is Apple's rule rather than ours.
Read →Guide · checked September 2026
Seller Central phone verification: the PIN, the call, and Amazon's one-account rule
Amazon's standard policy is one Seller Central account per seller. The phone number is part of how that is enforced. A second number to hold a second account risks the account you already have.
Read →Guide · Founders abroad
A US phone number for your US company, when you don't live in the US
What Stripe really requires, why bank and fintech codes are where a US mobile line matters, and the four ways to get one.
Read →Guide · Team chat
Get your team's 2FA codes in a Slack or Microsoft Teams channel
Why shared accounts end up stuck on one person's phone, and how to have every code posted into the channel your team already reads.
Read →Guide · Moving abroad
How to keep a US phone number when you move abroad
Five ways to hold on to a US number after you leave, what each one asks of you, and a checklist so the bank's codes don't get stranded.
Read →Guide · Trust
Why a number with a verified owner keeps working for codes
What services worry about when a code goes to a phone number, what recycled numbers do, and why Cleat asks every line owner to verify.
Read →Guide · Venmo · checked September 2026
Does Venmo accept VoIP numbers? What Venmo puts in writing, and what to do when the code won't come
Venmo never uses the word VoIP on the pages we read. Its user agreement asks for a cellular/wireless number you own. Its codes come from a short code. When your number is gone, recovery leans on devices you've signed in on before.
Read →Guide · PayPal · checked September 2026
Does PayPal accept VoIP numbers? The ways in PayPal actually lists
PayPal says nothing about VoIP on the pages we read. It's one of the few services that names landlines as fine. The more useful finding: PayPal gives you more ways in than most. WhatsApp, email, a passkey, an authenticator app, the PayPal app.
Read →Guide · Cash App · checked September 2026
Does Cash App accept VoIP numbers? Two help centers, two different answers
The only Cash App page that names VoIP belongs to Cash App Taxes, not the payments app. It's dated 2021. The main Cash App help sends sign-in codes by text or email, supports passkeys, and has a recovery flow inside the app.
Read →Guide · Chime · checked September 2026
Does Chime accept VoIP numbers? What Chime's help says, and what it doesn't
Chime's help doesn't mention VoIP, Google Voice or landlines. It describes codes by text or phone call. Its texts come from one short code, 24463, that has to get through. Passkeys replace the password.
Read →Guide · Coinbase · checked September 2026
Does Coinbase accept VoIP numbers? Coinbase would rather you didn't lean on a phone at all
Coinbase's help doesn't mention VoIP. It calls text messages the least secure 2FA method. It doesn't deliver codes by voice call, and recommends passkeys and security keys. If SMS is your only method and the number is gone, getting back in means an ID check in a browser.
Read →Guide · checked September 2026
Does a Microsoft account accept a VoIP number for verification codes?
No, and Microsoft says so in writing. Microsoft is also moving personal accounts off text codes altogether. The number question matters less every month. Here's what it says, and what to set up instead.
Read →Guide · checked September 2026
Does Steam accept a VoIP number for Steam Guard and account recovery?
No. Steam refuses new VoIP numbers in writing. Its own check also catches some carriers' mobile plans. On Steam the phone number isn't how you sign in. It's how you get your account back.
Read →Guide · checked September 2026
Does eBay accept a VoIP number for 2-step verification?
eBay publishes no rule about VoIP numbers. It does say text codes don't work on landlines. It recommends an authenticator app over texts. Your phone number stays the backup when you change phones.
Read →Guide · checked September 2026
Does Login.gov accept a VoIP number? Sign-in, identity checks and my Social Security
No, in two places, for two reasons. As a sign-in method, Login.gov says not to use VoIP. For identity verification, it wants a US number that records tie to your name. The strongest fix uses no phone number at all.
Read →Guide · checked September 2026
Does Bank of America accept a VoIP number for security codes?
Bank of America publishes no rule about VoIP numbers on the security pages we read. It does publish something more useful: a USB security key, for people who don't have a US mobile number or can't receive texts.
Read →