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When I tried to install a free app, AppStore says:

Verification Required

Before you can make purchases, you must tap Continue to sign in, then verify your payment info.

I never had this problem before. How do I install free apps without providing Apple with my credit card information?

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  • I'd say this is a generic message, do you actually have to enter your credit card information when you go through the verification steps? It is indeed possible to create an Apple ID without a credit card, see "Creating an iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store account without a credit card" at support.apple.com/kb/ht2534.
    – jaume
    Jun 20, 2013 at 7:06
  • @jaume it shows me the last 4 digits of my credit card, without me entering anything. I already have an apple ID, is there any way to disassociate all credit card information with apple so that they won't bother me with credit card issues (like this) again?
    – Pacerier
    Jun 20, 2013 at 8:04
  • Yes, you can do that, see my answer below for details.
    – jaume
    Jun 20, 2013 at 8:32

1 Answer 1

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It is indeed possible to create an Apple ID without a credit card, see "Creating an iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store account without a credit card" at http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2534.

If you entered credit card information in the past you can dissociate it from your Apple ID as follows.

On an iOS device

  1. Open Settings.

  2. Tap iTunes & App Stores:

    enter image description here

  3. Tap your account and select "View Apple ID".

  4. Select Payment information:

    enter image description here

  5. Select None:

    enter image description here

  6. Confirm with Done.

On a Mac

  1. Open App Store.app:

    enter image description here

  2. Select menu Store>View My Account.

  3. In the Apple ID Summary section locate the Payment Information line and click Edit >:

    enter image description here

  4. Select None as payment method:

    enter image description here

    enter image description here

  5. Click Done to confirm.

If you don't see a "none" option, you may need to disable family sharing and then try the above steps again.

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  • Does windows have an App Store.app? Are there ways to do it simply through a browser?
    – Pacerier
    Jun 20, 2013 at 8:46
  • No, you must do it from your Mac. You can also use an iOS device, there is a similar procedure for iPhone/iPad: Open Settings, tap iTunes & App Stores, tap your account and select "View Apple ID", select "Payment information" and select "None". Confirm with Done.
    – jaume
    Jun 20, 2013 at 9:13
  • thanks it's working. That should have been the answer though, since not everyone with an iPhone has a mac.
    – Pacerier
    Jun 20, 2013 at 9:36
  • That's true, I just thought the verification message came from the Mac App Store, a wrong assumption from my part. I've edited the answer and added a section for iOS devices.
    – jaume
    Jun 20, 2013 at 11:40
  • This works indeed. I never had entered any payment data ("None" was selected from beginning on). But I was asked to confirm my payment info even for free apps, although it was still set to "None". I think this happens, because I'm have logged in with a completely another account but which has credit card info entered. I guess that even when logging out and in with an account without payment info, the app store / itunes stores the info in a cache or so, so it must be updated by re-saving your account information. Now it works for me too. So if you still have problems: update your account info.
    – StanE
    Sep 7, 2016 at 4:11

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