what happened is apparently that, because i didn't have two-step authentication turned on, they need to call me to verify it's me. yeah - that's the company policy, that you can either turn on two-step identification, or you can accept a call from the service every time you try to login.
that's obviously a problem, if you don't have a phone, as i don't.
but, i think it obscures the actual policy here, which is that they're trying to tie banking information to sim cards. this is more about data collection than it is about security, and what they're essentially doing is holding the account hostage until they can associate it with a phone number, and by proxy a sim card and the whole surveillance apparatus attached to owning a phone.
....which would be why i wouldn't want a phone anyways, even if i could afford it.
the lesson here is that you don't want to sign up for this service, as they seem to be collecting personal information, and probably as a front for the cia, nsa or some other government group. and i'll let you know who they are, once i get the account deleted.