iTunes Music Downloads - Credit Card Required?

[SCCutler]

My niece ran up a hefty sum on her iTunes account, which charged against my sister's credit card. I asked my sister why her CC was registered to the iTunes account, and sister tells me that you must have a credit card registered to the account to use it.

Now, I see these iTunes gift cards sold all the time, and I find it hard to comprehend that Apple would want to limit sales from their music store to people who have credit or debit cards. But I just could not tell from reading the exceedingly-polite, yet impenetrably-dense prose on Apple's website and, not being remotely interested in setting up an iTunes Music Store account, I thought I'd ask the many Apple-centric mavens here about t.

So.

Assume I have an iTunes gift card, a computer, an iPod and I am jonesing for some music, but I don't have a credit or debit card: can I get music from Apple, using the gift card alone?

 

[TangoWhiskey]

Nope, no credit card required if you're creating the account USING the gift card. If you're redeeming a gift card on an existing account, then you probably already gave them your credit card.

From: http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/store/giftcard/

I want to create an account with my card, but don't want to enter a credit card.
That's easy! Follow these simple steps

Install the latest version of iTunes. You can download iTunes (it's free) from the Download iTunes webpage. If iTunes is already installed on your computer, check your version and update if necessary.

Open iTunes.

In the Source list (on the left side of the iTunes window), click iTunes Store.

In the upper-right corner of the iTunes Store window, verify that the button next to Account says "Sign In." If this button displays an email address instead, click the button and then click Sign Out.

In the iTunes Store window, click the Redeem link in the right column.

In the resulting screen, enter the 16-digit code printed on the back of the card (it starts with an "X"), then click Redeem.

In the resulting screen, create your new iTunes Store account. You will have the option to enter credit card information; if you do not wish to do so, click the None button on the Payment screen.

Once you've successfully redeemed your music card, the credit amount will appear next to the Account details in the upper-right corner. Each time you purchase music, iTunes will deduct funds from the credit until it's depleted. If a pending purchase exceeds the credit amount, iTunes will ask you to enter a credit card number. You do not need to re-enter your music card number to make multiple purchases.

 

[SCCutler]

Troy-

YOU ARE THE MAN!

Thanks,

/s/ Spike

 

[jwriteclub]

It should also be possible to "un-pair" a credit card from the account so that the account no longer automatically charges the credit card.

~ Christopher