Yesterday, Apple debuted its new iTunes Pass service in Japanese Apple Stores, allowing users to buy iTunes Store credit directly without the need for physical gift cards. Today, Apple has begun to roll out the service in the United States (via iPhoneHacks).



To use the service, customers must add a new iTunes Pass inside of the existing Passbook app in iOS, and then locate a Specialist at an Apple Retail Store. Once located, a customer can tell the Specialist how much money they would like and the amount is instantly transferred to the Pass. Essentially, the service streamlines the process for customers who rely on iTunes gift cards to purchase things on the iTunes Store, App Store and iBooks Store.

Earlier this year, reports indicated that Apple was working on its own mobile payments service, which could bear some resemblance to iTunes Pass. The payments service would reportedly be integrated within iOS and allow customers to pay for physical goods in stores with their iPhones.

Update 11:48 PM: As spotted by Apfelpage.de (Google Translate), iTunes Pass has also gone live in Germany.