Dubai: Apple has officially started selling its iTunes Gift cards in the UAE.
The card will enable users to buy apps, music, games and movies from the iTunes store in the UAE.
The tech giant has tied up with three retailers — iStyle, Carrefour and Sharaf DG — in the UAE to offer the cards.
“The demand is going to be good as it can be gifted to others and children. My daughter is using an iPad with my password. She cannot buy anything. In order for her to buy anything, I need to feed in my password. Children are using Apple products and it is more convenient for them to buy instead of using credit cards,” Nilesh Kalko, CEO of Sharaf DG, told Gulf News.
Since the gift card is also registered in buyer’s name, he said that parents can monitor what their children are buying.
The cards come in Dh100, Dh250 and Dh500 denominations. Redemptions can only be done from the UAE site.
iTunes Gift cards have been available in the UAE for quite some time but unofficially and the US cards.
Kalko said that another advantage which he sees is for tourists where iTunes store is not available in their country. They can download stuff when they are in the UAE.
It is easy to use. From the computer, click the arrow next to the price and choose “Gift this.” Or from your iOS device, tap the share button at the top of the screen. Apple will then send an email letting the recipient know about it. With one click, the gift will start downloading to their device.
Parents can also set up an iTunes monthly allowance to give the kids a set amount of store credit to spend every month on the iTunes Store, App Store, and Mac App Store. That way the kids can access the stores even without a credit card, and parents can set a limit on how much they spend.
Even though the US site offers more contents than in the UAE, Kalko says the UAE site focuses more on Arabic and local contents.
