Why does app download require payment method on iPhone?
each time I try to download an app it’s asking for payment method.. why?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Question marked as
Many of the apps you download for free will have in-app purchases that will be billed to your payment method if you choose to use one. You are not charged to download free apps. Developers use these in-app purchases in hopes you will find the app useful, and continue to use one of those in-app purchase. It costs developers time and money to create those apps and they must also keep them updated and none of that is free for them to do. If there was no payment method, then there would be no chance those developers could recoup any of their expenses at all.
In addition, since the region of the payment method must match the one set on the device, it makes sure you are using the correct App Store. There were some people that would change the region on their device to get apps/services that would normally not be available to them in their region. This fraudulent behavior is prevented my having the payment method being the same as your device.
If you had a previous charge that was not able to be processed, then that would need to be paid before you are allowed to continue and use the App Store. See this Support Article here:
If you can’t download or update apps on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support