It doesn’t matter if you are an employer, parent, or significant other. At some point in time it is useful to set up an account for someone else and allocate an allowance to it.
The Allowance option is an alternative to iTunes gift cards and digital gifting. It allows funds to be taken directly from your iTunes account, and subsequently your credit card, on a monthly basis. You can easily assign amounts varying from $10 to $50.
To access the Allowance section within iTunes, proceed to the iTunes Store and on the right hand side Menu Bar click Send iTunes Gift.
The first window shown will present the option to send a one time iTunes gift. This is useful should you wish to send someone iTunes credit for a birthday gift. To proceed with setting up the allowance you will need to click on Learn More About Gifting as highlighted below:
After doing so, you will be presented with the Set up an iTunes Allowance window.
Simply fill in your name, the recipient’s name, and the monthly allowance you would like to assign to them.
You can select to have it sent from the first day of the following month, or immediately, and then repeated on the first day of each month.
If the recipient doesn’t have an AppleID, you can easily select that option and have one set up for them. If an account already exists, simply enter and confirm the recipient’s AppleID. You do not require their password.
Before confirming and continuing, you may also wish to enter a personal message. Such as “Don’t spend it all at once”.
Now your employees, children, and your significant other can purchase content from all of Apple’s digital stores, including the Mac App Store, iTunes Store, and the iBookstore, without you running the risk of unapproved and excessive purchasing. This also protects and adds a layer of security to your AppleID and associated password, as the recipient will not need access to this information.
It is also useful to know that the credit that is sent to the recipient will not expire, even if they have not used it within the calendar month. If the recipient attempts to make additional purchases after the allocated allowance has been spent, the purchase will be denied until credit has been issued on the first day of the following month.
After the allowance has been setup, you can proceed to your Account at anytime to cancel the allowance if you wish. The Account settings can be reached via the Quick Links option located in the right hand Menu Bar of the iTunes Store.
If you have any further questions about creating allowances, or purchasing digital content, please drop into the store to discuss you specific requirements.