Cannot Change Payment Method for MS 365 after moving Country

Question

I subscribe to the MS 365 classic version. I took out the subscription in the UK, but I have now moved to New Zealand.

I need to change my payment method from my UK Amex account, which I am about to close, to either my UK bank account or my New Zealand bank account. However, Microsoft won't allow me to do that because the address on my UK and NZ bank accounts, and my Amex account, is my New Zealand address. I do not have a UK address. One problem is that the 'add new payment method' dialogue does not allow the country field in the address to be changed from UK to New Zealand.

I would be happy to cancel and re-subscribe with my New Zealand bank account, but I can't see how to re-subscribe to the 'Classic' version.What can I do?

Answer 1

Hello,

This is a difficult situation, so let me explain it clearly.

Microsoft 365 subscriptions are tied to the country or region where they were purchased. A subscription purchased in the UK cannot be renewed using a payment method with a billing address in another country.

You would normally need to let the current subscription expire, change your Microsoft account region to New Zealand, and then purchase a new subscription using your New Zealand payment method.

Unfortunately, I do not believe there is another option unless you can continue using a UK payment method with a UK billing address.

The main issue is that allowing the current subscription to expire would also cause you to lose the Classic plan. The Classic plan requires you to remain continuously subscribed. Purchasing a new subscription in New Zealand would place you on one of the plans currently offered there, not the Classic plan.