Apple’s new service called iTunes Pass which enables customers to purchase iTunes Store credit in retails stores, was launched today… The service eliminates the need for a physical gift card as it installs a new pass inside the Passbook application: meaning the credit is applied to the user’s account instantly.
To use iTunes Pass, customers need to walk into an Apple Retail store, add the new iTunes Pass into Passbook, then locate an in-store specialist and tell them how much money they want to be added to their account.
The move is significant, as it shows Apple’s increasing tendency to reduce material costs by digitalizing, for example, gift cards. As 9to5Mac points out, sources say Apple is readying an iTunes-based mobile payments service, which integrates Touch ID and Passbook.
Apple was reported to be working on its own mobile payments solution, which could be similar to the iTunes Pass service. The company was also rumoured to implement NFC with the iPhone 6, but this remains to be seen.
After the 9to5Mac report went live, French site iGeneration spotted an important line suggesting that the service will shortly be available worldwide. It claimed the iTunes Pass is not available in Brazil, China and Turkey intimating that it will be available in all other countries.
