Apple debuted its new iTunes Pass service in Japanese Apple Store yesterday, and now the program – which allows users to buy iTunes Store credit without buying physical iTunes gift cards – is rolling out in the United States and Australia. 9to5Mac reports users in Canada, Germany, and the UK are also reporting seeing the feature, though it’s not officially listed on Apple’s website for those countries just yet.
In order to use the service, customers add a new iTunes Pass to the Passbook app on their iPhone via the iTunes Store app (as shown above). They must then go to an Apple Retail Store, where a specialist can instantly transfer any amount of money they’d like to the pass.
This thinking behind the process is that customers who usually use iTunes gift cards for iTunes, iBooks, and App Store purchases, can now remove the step of purchasing a physical gift card and entering the code into iTunes.
Personally, I’m not seeing a huge difference in convenience here, as the customer needs to make a trip to an Apple Store to top up their pass, while iTunes and App Store gift cards are available almost everywhere.
How about you, dear reader? Your thoughts?
