ChatGPT Plus and Claude Pro block cards based on billing country, not card validity

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Users attempting to subscribe to ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro may face rejections even with valid cards, because OpenAI and Anthropic restrict sales to a list of supported countries. The platforms determine a user's country using the card's issuing bank (BIN), the billing address entered on the payment form, and sometimes IP or account region. Unlike a typical fraud-based card decline, this is a policy restriction that a VPN alone cannot bypass, since the card's BIN still reveals its country of origin. The most effective workaround is to use a card physically issued in a supported country, such as those from Wise, Revolut, or certain crypto-funded Visa cards with BINs registered in eligible regions. Users must also ensure the billing country entered on the payment form matches the card's issuing country, as any mismatch is a common cause of continued failures.

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