You may not know it and you have more money than you think, since if you have an Apple ID you may be able to access certain purchases related to your devices thanks to having a balance associated with your account. You can also combine it with money you have on your debit or credit cards. In this article we review everything you need to know about this balance, what it is for, how to consult it and more.
What is this money for and how can it be spent
As you may have already suspected, this money is only used for purchases within Apple without the possibility of exchanging it for cash or transferring it to a bank account. It can be used as follows:
- App Store: purchase of applications and games that require a price for their download and also valid for in-app purchases, either for extra functions or subscriptions that they incorporate.
- Music: you can download paid music content using your Apple ID balance.
- Movies: titles available for rent or purchase on Apple TV can also be paid for using this balance.
- Books: the Apple Books platform has a payment catalog available to the public, to which the Apple balance is also attached.
- Apple services: you can pay one or more monthly payments for Apple services:
- Apple arcade
- Apple TV +
- Apple Music
- iCloud
- Apple One (package that includes several services)
Apart from this, it must be said that some other services such as Apple News + or Apple Fitness + can be paid, but these are not available in all territories. In the United States, you can also buy company devices such as iPhone, iPad or Mac through this balance. Regarding the expiration of this balance we must say that, in principle and unless Apple tells you otherwise, there is no expiration for this balance and you can spend it at any time. Of course, you should bear in mind that if you make some changes you could lose this balance . This occurs when you delete your Apple ID or when you change region, so we recommend that you make use of this balance before proceeding with this change.
In what territories can it be used?
Unfortunately, not in all countries and regions it is possible to have a balance associated with an Apple ID. However, there are many that support it, having the following list of available countries (ordered by continents):
- Africa:
- Nigeria
- South Africa
- Tanzania
- North America:
- Canada
- USA
- Central America:
- Mexico
- South America:
- Brazil
- chili
- Colombia
- Peru
- Asia and Oceania:
- Australia
- Cambodia
- Mainland china
- South Korea
- Philippines
- Hong Kong
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Malaysia
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Taiwan
- Europe:
- Germany
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- malt
- Norway
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- UK
- Czech Republic
- Romania
- Russia
- Sweden
- Swiss
- Middle East:
- Saudi Arabia
- Bahrain
- Taste
- Egypt
- United Arab Emirates
- Israel
- Kuwait
- Oman
- Turkey
How to check your available balance
Once you know what you can do with this credit, you have to find out the way to check the balance we have, which can be done from any device. Even if you don’t have an Apple device on hand, you can still check.
Through an iPhone or iPad
If you have one of these devices with iOS or iPadOS, the consultation process is very simple, all you have to do is follow these steps:
- Open the App Store on your device.
- Click on your photo at the top right of the screen.
- Look at the bottom of your name and email, as your balance will appear here.
If nothing appears in this section, it will mean that your balance is zero, so nothing will appear until you have at least 0.01 cents.
From the Mac
Regardless of the Mac model you have, you can perform the check by following steps similar to those for iPhone and iPad:
- Open the App Store.
- Look at your name and photo at the bottom left of the screen, since your balance should appear below.
As in the previous case, if nothing appears at this point it will mean that you have no balance in your Apple ID account.
On a Windows PC
If you have a computer with Microsoft‘s operating system, you must have iTunes downloaded in order to access the information. Remember that if you don’t have it, you can download it from the Apple website. Then you just have to follow these steps:
- Open iTunes on your computer
- Sign in with your Apple ID if you haven’t done so previously.
- An amount will appear below your name that refers to your account balance.
In the same way as in all the previous cases, if you do not see any amount listed and there is not even any indication of it, it will mean that you have no balance associated with your Apple ID.
How to add balance to Apple ID
Regardless of whether your balance is at zero or if you have something, you can always add more money to your account. Following the steps mentioned in the points in which we talked about its verification, you will always find the option to “Add balance to Apple ID” . Clicking on them will open a tab in which by default you will be allowed to add amounts of 24, 50 or 100 euros, as well as the possibility of choosing another amount. It must be said that the minimum is 1 euro and the maximum is 300 euros. Once selected, Apple Pay will open to transfer that money from the card you have associated with this service.
If the balance of your account does not appear or you have problems to see it, the first thing you should know is that it may not be instantaneous, although the most normal thing is that it is. Therefore, the first thing we advise you is to have waited at least 24 hours since you received a balance in your account. If it does not appear, it is recommended that you close the App Store completely and open it again to check. If the changes still do not appear, you should contact Apple to notify them of the incident so that they can resolve it as quickly as possible.
What other ways can you receive money?
There are other ways to add balance to the account without you directly making the deposit:
- Receive balances from other people , since if you have been sent a gift card this amount could appear in your Apple account.
- Refund from Apple , whether from an app, subscription to a service provided through Apple, or a purchase of a company product. While in those cases you can choose the traditional refund using the original payment method, it is also possible to choose to have it added to your Apple ID in this way.
- Gifts from Apple itself, something that despite not being common, can be given. If, for example, you subscribed to a company service such as Apple One while still having Apple TV + or Apple Arcade promotions, it is possible that the company will compensate you by adding a balance to your account.
