The online payment giant PayPal today announced an interesting new service which allows U.S. PayPal account holders to buy Apple’s iTunes Gift Cards or gift them to loved ones.
This is especially useful if you live outside the United States yet have a U.S. iTunes Store account for instant access to all of the best apps, movies, TV shows and other content that’s often unavailable in local iTunes Stores due to regional restrictions.
Previously, you had to wire cash to someone in the United States who’s willing enough to buy an iTunes Gift Cards from the Online Apple Store or directly from the iTunes Store, on your behalf…
PayPal writes:
Beginning today, just in time for the holidays, PayPal will be opening the doors (or the URL) to the PayPal Digital Gifts store. What is PayPal Digital Gifts? It is a store that will give people the chance to purchase digital gift cards from a host of our partner merchants.
Buying an iTunes Gift Card is now as easy as visiting PayPal’s Digital Gifts Store on the web and choosing your voucher in $15/$25/$50/$100 denominations. You can buy it for yourself or give the gift of an iTunes Gift Card to that special someone. The store mentions that iTunes Cards are issued and managed by Apple Value Services, LLC.
Either way, your designated PayPal account will be charged directly and you’ll need to provide the recipient’s name, email address and an optional message.
Some restrictions apply.
iTunes credits are redeemable for music, movies, TV shows, games, apps and other content sold on the iTunes Store, iBooks Store, App Store and Mac App Store. Recipients can access their content on an iPod, iPad or iPhone and watch or listen on a computer, Mac or PC.
Moreover, only valid U.S. PayPal accounts can purchase a gift card from the Digital Gifts Store. You may only send the vouchers using Digital Gifts Store “to someone in the U.S.” You should keep in mind that, as per Apple’s rules, iTunes vouchers are good only for the same regional store they were purchased from.
For example, if a U.S. iTunes account holder buys a $50 voucher from Apple and gifts it to a friend in Italy, he or she will only be able to redeem it using a U.S. iTunes Store account. At post time, $15 and $25 iTunes codes sold out in Digital Gifts Store.
Although Apple is the prime launch partner, PayPal plans to add gift cards from other companies “very soon,” with deals and offers being featured periodically.