Yesterday Apple rolled out its new iTunes Pass service to Japan, allowing users to use a Passbook card to add credit to an iTunes account from an Apple Retail Store. Starting today, the offer is also available in the United States and Australia. 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.
To take advantage of this new program, you need to use the iTunes Store app on an iOS device to obtain an iTunes Pass. You can get one of these by tapping the “Redeem” button at the bottom of the home page within the app. To use the card, you can visit an Apple Retail Store and ask a specialist to help you add credit to your account. The specialist can then scan the barcode on the Passbook card to immediately add credit to your account.
The process seems a bit cumbersome as opposed to using a credit card on the iTunes Store or purchasing a gift card to add credit to your account, but some users who are unable to use those methods may find this new option helpful.
Update: As some readers in the comments have noted, Apple’s instructions for accessing the iTunes Pass have not worked for some. Rather than tapping the redeem button on the iTunes Store app on iPhone, the iTunes Pass can be found under the account section below the redeem button. Example below:
