How To Use Apple Gift Cards For Global Incentive Programs

International Apple gift cards are a common request for anyone running global incentive and rewards programs. If your team wants to send bulk digital gift cards to employees or customers around the world, Apple gift cards might seem like a great fit—at first glance. Apple is a brand that's beloved around the world, right?

Heads up: it's not quite that simple.

Yes, Apple is one of the most popular international companies going. But that doesn't mean you can send a stack of Apple gift cards around the world and expect them to actually work. 

In this article, we’ll explain the right way to use Apple gift cards for global incentive programs. If you want to ensure your digital rewards from Apple actually work, keep reading. 

TL;DR - Sending international Apple gift cards at a glance:

🌍 Apple gift cards are region-locked—recipients can only use them in the country you're sending from

🎁 Consider working with a global gift card distributor if you want to send Apple gift cards (and other region-locked brands like Amazon) to international audiences. 

Are Apple gift cards region locked? What you need to know

Using the right gift card can make or break your reward strategy, especially when your recipients aren’t all in the same country. Get the details wrong, and you risk leaving your recipients frustrated or empty-handed (and wasting your incentive budget, too).

Yes, Apple gift cards are incredibly popular, making them a great choice for all sorts of reward programs. 

But let's cut right to the chase: Apple Gift Cards are also region-locked.

That means an Apple gift card bought in one country or region cannot be redeemed or used in any other country or region—not even for digital apps or subscriptions.

This isn’t just a small technical detail. If you buy an Apple gift card in the U.S. and send it to someone with an Apple ID set to Canada, say, they simply cannot use it. The rules are strict, and there simply isn’t any way around them.

Consider this detailed thread on a popular Apple forum. One user from Aruba is struggling to use an Apple gift card. The top-voted reply explains the issue clearly: There is no 'international' gift card. In If you can't redeem your Apple Gift Card or App Store & iTunes Gift Card - Apple Support Apple advises, "You can't redeem Apple Gift Cards or App Store & iTunes Gift Cards outside of the country or region of purchase. For example, if you bought an App Store & iTunes Gift Card in France, you can't redeem it in the App Store in the United States."

So for international rewards programs, this region-lock reality can be a big stumbling block (unless you find the right tools to help you). 

Sending the wrong card means people get rewards they can’t redeem. That’s not just disappointing—it’s a frustrating experience for your recipients and a waste of your incentive program’s resources.

💬 Like Nat Salvione, Chief Commercial Officer at Giftbit, says, "You spend weeks designing and launching your program. If the reward experience fails at the final moment, if a card isn’t available or something goes wrong, you’ve just delivered a disappointing experience and negated the whole point of your program."

🧭 Table: “Can I use this Apple gift card?”

💡 Quick rule: Card must match the Apple ID’s country.

Why Apple?

We all know how popular Apple. With such an outsized marketshare, Apple gift cards are great choice if you want to please lots of recipients, especially those that are particularly tech-savvy (or simply Ted Lasso fans 😉). And it's not like you're limiting recipients to buying iPhone apps (although they can do that too!). 

🍎 Specifically, an Apple gift card gives your recipients access to all things Apple, including apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, iCloud+. They can use it:

At any Apple store
On apple.com
In the Apple store app
In the App Store
For iTunes
For Apple Music
For Apple TV+
For Apple News+
For Apple Books
For Apple Arcade
For iCloud+
For Fitness+
For Apple One
And for other Apple properties.*

*Again, these Apple properties will need to be accessed in the same region that sent the card.  Learn about using gift cards for digital subscriptions here. 

Best practices for sending region-specific gift cards

So that's the bad news. You can't just go to your local drugstore, buy a stack of Apple gifts cards, and them send 'em out around the world—not if you expect them to work.

But that's not really how you want to be managing any amount of reward sending, anyway (more on that below).

The good news is that it's still absolutely possible (and even easy!) to send Apple gift cards to international audiences, assuming you follow some best practices. 

Since they're region-locked, the only reliable way to send Apple Gift Cards internationally is to match the card’s region with the recipient's Apple ID region.

That might be a bit easier to do with digital Apple cards you personally purchase (versus that stack of physical cards you bought at Walmart). 

But it's still a lot of work on your end, if you go it alone. 

And if you plan to send any amount of bulk, it's going to complicated and unwieldy fast, especially if you've got recipients in multiple foreign countries. 

👉 So the far better option is to find a gift card platform with a global rewards catalog that includes Apple. Let your gift card provider wrangle with different Apple IDs for different recipients, so you won't have to. 🙌

Specifically, a good, global gift card distributor will handle all the complex technical details for you, helping match the right card to the right country. They'll manage all the region and currency complexity behind the scenes, so you can focus on keeping your recipients happy and your program running smoothly. 

For example, at the time of writing this article, the Giftbit catalog offers Apple gift cards in the local currency for:

🇦🇺 Australia
🇦🇹 Austria
🇧🇪 Belgium
🇨🇦 Canada
🇩🇰 Denmark
🇫🇷 France
🇩🇪 Germany
🇬🇧 Great Britain
🇮🇪 Ireland
🇮🇹 Italy
🇳🇱 Netherlands
🇳🇴 Norway
🇪🇸 Spain
🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇺🇸 United States

Translation: if you have recipients in any of these countries, just upload your recipient list,  pick the denomination of Apple gift card you want to send, and click 'send' ... and that's it! That's all the work you'll have to do to ensure your recipients in all these regions can easily get their Apple rewards (and finally catch up on Severance 📺). 

Plus, global gift card platforms do more than just help with region matching

When you use a reputable rewards platform, it means less guesswork, fewer mistakes, and a much better recipient experience—wherever in the world your people happen to be.

But, ideally, they'll offer a lot of features than just the ability to easily send Apple cards to distributed audiences. 

Specifically, to make your life easier, look for a gift card company that also:

• Offers digital delivery via various methods (i.e., email, text, DM, and QR code, plus physical options) so your rewards can reach your audience wherever they are
• Integrates with other tools your team is using (like HubSpot, Slack, and Shopify)
• Takes care of currency conversion and offers the local denomination that makes sense in every country (i.e., so you only have to make one account to handle all your international audiences🙌)
• Provides detailed gift card tracking so you can see exactly what gift cards were sent, which were delivered (without getting filtered as 'spam,' for example), which were actually claimed, and how your budget is being used
• Gives your recipients a choice from a curated catalog of gift cards, all of which are compatible with their local stores.

Bonus: look for a platform that also offers a developer-friendly, easy-to-integrate gift card API. That way, you'll be able to readily incorporate your rewards program directly into your own app or software, if and when you're ready to scale.💪

💻 Table: Benefits of using a global gift card platform

Is Apple a good fit for international reward programs?

With the right platform, Apple gift cards are easy to deliver digitally and an enduringly popular choice for tech-focused audiences. Many employees and customers love the option to access apps, download music or shows, or buy Apple gear—it’s a brand people know, use, and trust.

Indeed, according to Giftbit Director of Business Development Matthew Brossard, Apple gift cards make it to the Top 10 or Top 20 'most redeemed' list in a lot of our client's programs.

💡That means when our clients let their recipients choose which brand they want to redeem, lots and lots of them choose Apple. 

💬 "Apple is a good fit if a program is looking to emphasize entertainment-themed rewards and high-convenience rewards," says Matt. "Apple's good for movies, tv, apps, games, eBooks, and podcasts. Its ecosystem is very user-friendly with diverse offerings, so it's appealing for lots of different audiences."

Ultimately, Apple Gift Cards make sense when you’re certain about your audience’s location. It's ok if they're located in different countries—as long as your distributor supports them.  

💡That said, any time you're thinking about sending digital rewards, you'll want to think carefully about what will motivate your audience. 

Do you want to send them just Apple cards?

OR, do you want to give them an assortment of brands to choose from (Apple included), and let them pick their favorite?  We'll show you how to do this below.

💡Pro-tip: Image-wise, Apple is quite high-end. This means it might not be suitable as the sole incentive in things like social welfare programs. Indeed, given the popularity of Samsung and Android, many program managers might be reluctant to offer Apple as the sole incentive, either. 

That's why, like we'll cover below, Apple gift cards often work best when they're an option for your recipients, and not their only choice. 

🎯 Table: When Apple gift cards are a good fit

✔️ Best practice: Include Apple as a choice, not a default.

More options for global rewards

So what if you want to reward people from Canada to Germany to Brazil, without any headaches? You've got options. 

Flexible, non-region-locked prepaid cards like the Giftbit Bulk Virtual Prepaid Mastercard® can be a great fit for global programs where you don't know where all your recipients are located. 

It's a prepaid card that's accepted everywhere Mastercard is, both online and in-store. It works just like a regular debit card and isn't limited by country-specific rules.*

Otherwise, for international gift card programs, consider multi-brand digital rewards. 

For example, the Giftbit platform lets you use 'recipient choice awards.' This means you can let your recipients pick their own reward from a huge catalog of region-appropriate gift cards and local brands. 

And don't worry: you don't have to do all this legwork. Upload your contact list, send your rewards, and your recipients will only see the gift cards and prepaid cards that will work for them. 

🔑 The key to global success: Give people choice, and make redemption simple. Like Nat says, “redemption has to be smooth and delightful for a successful incentive program. If it’s annoying, or frustrating, none of the upstream work matters.”

*See a list of approved countries here. 

Choosing the right strategy for global incentive programs

Every great program starts with clear goals. Ask yourself what you want to achieve: Is it employee engagement? Sales incentives? Customer loyalty? This will shape everything from the types of gift cards you send to how you manage your budget.

Get to know your audience. What works in the U.S. might fall flat in Asia or Europe. Look at local buying preferences, cultural expectations, and even local holidays.

Your secret weapon is a global rewards platform. They can specialize in international eGift cards, track tax compliance, offer multi-currency support, and provide detailed reports.

💬 Like Nat Salvione sums it up: “The internet flattened geography—your recipients could be anywhere. That’s why we’ve built a platform that lets you reward globally without needing to set up complex funding in multiple currencies.”

Remember to budget for exchange rates and possible fees. Always read the fine print, so you know if your reward loses value to bank fees or conversion rates along the way.

• Communicate early and often: Tell people what they're getting, how to redeem, and what to expect. This avoids confusion later.
• Measure success: The best programs evolve. Watch redemption rates and collect feedback so you can improve each round.

When Apple gift cards are the right fit