apple discontinue sale of gift card in Singapore and need to use the balance by end of Mar

I have to challenge the "best reply" that the email is not from them. I messaged Apple again yesterday and indeed did get a similar type of response saying that its possible the email is not from them as "it doesnt sound like something Apple would do". But today I called support again and without a doubt, they confirmed that the email is 100% from Apple.

I also checked the message headers and can confirm that the message does indeed come from Apple's servers as well. There's no message routing, there's no sender spoofing, it is an authentic, genuine Apple email. It just comes from a slightly different department than usual.

If you look at the email subject, it says <ADV> Action Required:. The <ADV> part is a specific requirement for mass emails sent from Singaporean businesses. Indeed, the blue checkmark also confirms that it is from Apple. The other thing I can confirm is that I only received this email on the one iTunes account I have that actually has a stored balance. And in line with the MAS policy to remove gift cards from various retail stores last year, this is just in follow up to it.

The links in the email as well as the images used, every single one of them goes to Apple's marketing tracking system c.apple.com which is only accessible to Apple marketing teams.

So to reiterate: the email is 100% from Apple and the advise is 100% to complete your balance by 31st of March 2024 or risk it being wiped out the moment they remove the stored balance from your account. Face it, the money is with Apple, whether you choose to use it or not.

I’ve also called Apple Support to clarify, and they confirmed that the email is not from them. Check the sender - the domain “@insideapple.apple.com” is not an official Apple domain. Do not click on the link inside the email to “add payment method”. It’s most likely a phishing link to steal your credit card details. It’s a scam.

Update: I've called Apple Support again and they've confirmed that Apple has indeed discontinued App Store and iTunes balance in Singapore due to MAS guidelines. Still pending resolution on alternate ways we can cash out the balance, but they have advised to spend it by the end of March, or it may become inaccessible.

It all depends on when the subscription is charged to be honest. If you are paying the subscription before 31 March 2024, then you can use the credits. But if you will only be charged in say October 2024, then of course, the balance would have already expired and you can't use the credit

If its a monthly renewable subscription for example, I would recommend that you take their highest subscription duration possible, assuming that your current subscription ends before 31 March 2024.

Does that make sense?

I went to the store, who had no idea about it and they asked me to call apple support. I called and they confirmed that the email is real, but they cannot confirm what will happen after March 31. Ridiculous and unacceptable considering that there is not supposed to be any expiry date on apple credit. Too make things worse, credit can't be shared, transferred or used to purchase products like accessories. People with significant store credit are screwed - how many songs and movies can you buy in 3 weeks??

I hope they come up with a solution before March 31 as this is a great way to **** off your customers.

Looking forward to update on this matter from other users.

Below is my experience with support.

I spend almost 3hrs calling, waiting, talking to staff around the continent : 1 level support staff, none based in Singapore and all, no idea with this Singapore only issue. Got transferred to 4 senior support staff (Ireland, Australia, China and China) *china because lastly I strongly demand to be transferred to Singapore based staff, oh why.

Called Apple orchard DID and staff concluded iTunes / store issue only via phone support none in store can support. I told her about this Singapore issue and she said only Senior support (phone) staff can address.

Left contact but Senior staff don't call back. I request to have the credit cash out or other form of credit, since this was such short notice.

I just had a call with the Apple Support. The guy on the other side reassured me that the remaining balance in my account won’t disappear and can still be used after March 31, 2024. Instead he clarified that the email meant to say that the gift cards won’t be able to be redeemed after March 31, 2024 and you should redeem the gift cards before the stated date.

He referred to an internal article stating the aforementioned fact which I believe it was created because there’s a lot of people inquiring about the same issue.

I think I’m going to keep my balance after March 31, 2024 cause I don’t think I can spend hundreds of $ in less than a month. If it disappeared, I’m going to reopen the case and make a fuss with them.

@int65 there's not been updates to this matter since we received the email. Personally I have about S$20.00+ in the account, so I'm keeping a look-out for anything interesting I may want to get, but am willing to take the risk. If it's gone, it's gone. I recommend that you spend the available money in your account by 31st of March as this is exactly what Apple told us to do in the email, although it is highly likely that Apple will not "wipe out your balance", but simply not allow you to redeem any more gift cards. But of course I could be totally wrong and wouldnt want to risk you losing your balance.

So advice: spend it

What I will do: risk it

I receive a response from a Apple senior support staff all the way from ireland, am thankful she follows thru and updated me. Here goes :

Hello again xxx (me), 

Thank you for your patience while I looked into the matter of your store credit balance.

So I got a clarification that you will NOT lose your store credit on the 31st, you just will not be able to redeem anymore. Keep an eye on your emails though as you will be communicated to explain what you can do going forward. 

Also, be advised where you can use the credit can vary from region to region as those cards are either for the iTunes Store or the online store separately. I have been advised that Singapore never had the option to use iTunes and App Store redeemed credit on the online store transactions or vice versa. So it seems you will not able to use this credit on the online store in any case. 

Thanks again for all your patience while we looked into the matter. 

Kind regards,

 Kxxx 

Apple Operations Europe Limited

Registered Address: Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Hollyhill, Cork, Ireland

Registered in Ireland with Number: 76927

Directors: Cathy Kearney, Michael O’Sullivan, Peter Denwood (United Kingdom) and Jeffrey Myers (United States)

I had a call w level 2 support this morning, he didn't mentioned that the credit can be used after 31st march. And seems like they were only inform internally recently also.

• we couldn't cash out the credit, it will go to Apple like "donation".
• we cannot transfer the credit to another region
• we cannot spend it on apple store

but we could setup family sharing, let the other members in the family utilize the credit. (I haven't try that yet).

also, any recommendations on where to spend the credit will be great. Thanks!

Apple support said its not from Apple.

The responses from Apple Support are all over the place. My chat with Apple Support stated that it is correct and Apple has been forced by MAS to discontinue Apple Store Credits