I just used TextMe during a recent trip to the USA. It allowed me to receive text messages from my airline while still being in my country of residence and text/receive calls from people in the US before I left to travel there. Also, once I arrived in the US, I placed and received several calls to/from the US number while still using a phone that had European number.

I had planned to cancel the service after returning to my country of residence but since it worked so smoothly, I think I'll keep it for any activities that require a US number. I didn't try it with a US bank, but it worked well for taxi, hotel, restaurant and airline needs, as well as connecting with people who have US numbers. It costs $9.99 per month, but it's worth it to me.

Also, there is the option to only pay for the service as you need it, but then you lose whatever number you originally chose. I also liked having the option to choose from numerous US numbers because then I could give businesses in my destination the impression that I'm a local. Another perk was that the texts/calls go to all my devices rather than just my phone, giving me multiple ways to answer. I was initially hesitant about how well it would work, but I have no complaints. The only service I tried to use it with that didn't accept the number was Uber, although Lyft worked.