I got the iPod Touch couple of days back and started grabbing apps from Singapore’s iTunes AppStore, the same one that I switched over from the US account. The main reason why I switched over to the SG account is so I can use my credit card to purchase instead of the round-about way of getting iTunes Gift Cards. Another reason is that with the SG AppStore, we assumed that the pricing will be Singapore Dollars and thus we won’t be affected by any changes in the exchange rate.

Boy did I assume wrongly.

Here’s an example of an app listed on the SG AppStore

Note the pricing. At no part of the store page were there any mention of pricing or currency, not even on the Store Terms and Conditions Page.

Likewise the receipt that one received from Apple

So when I checked my credit card bill today, I found that I was charged US$2.99 instead of SG$, incurring the final cost of S$4.50.

Though the price is not high, Apple should be more forthright in how the pricing is displayed on the AppStore and also on the receipts that they sent out. They need to know that their customers are NOT just from the USA!

A quick look around various stores in different countries around the region are all like SG, just have the $ in front of the price, whereas in UK and France, they are using UK Pounds and Euros respectively.

I am actually quite surprised no one actually made any noise about it. Imagine the shock when someone’s parent look at their CC bill to find tons of US$ billings for apps bought by their kids!

Called Apple earlier and all they can say is that they are in US$ and will be switched to the SG$ in the future. And that was after a few minutes of discussion with his colleagues. For surprising was that in HWZ, a user there posted an email he received from a Apple rep that stated that:

Each country as its own currency. Only the US Store is in US currency. Your Singapore Store with be in Singapore currency.

So should we be concern that Apple is not being very transparent in their billing practices? There should be at least a line on the iTunes Store that states the currency they are charging.

Anyone with a bit of law-ledge knows whether they are infringing any local regulations?

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