Apple music Turkey and others using a FUPS account/prepaid debit card

What the hell is FUPS I hear you ask ? It's a virtual prepaid debit card issued in Turkey. The free account does not require ID verification but it has a monthly transaction limit of 2750 TRY. That's more than enough to cover subscriptions on Disney plus, Spotify, Tidal and so on. After a bit of playing around I was able to set up an Apple music account using the FUBS card. @ 19.99 TRY per month is dirt cheap, from what I can tell it's possible to upgrade to the family sub via iTunes for 6 people but each person will require a Turkish apple ID to be set up.

Setting up FUPS can be done using android but I used a PC for some parts. It cost me about 6 euro to set the card up. THIS IS A COMPLICATED PROCESS !!!

After FUPS is set up setting up Apple music personal account can be done using chrome on android or PC, I used a VPN set to turkey to but its possible it might not be needed. However iTunes on PC will be required to upgrade Apple music from personal to family.

Note - I tried the using the Turkish FUBS card via google play/pay on my Turkish google account but received "your transaction can't be completed. To continue this transaction, use a different payment instruction or contact us" errors. While I don't understand why this happened it could be google is geo blocking transactions based on GPS location. Or I was just unlucky but my Turkish google account worked great for years without such errors until recently. However most services you can pay directly via their website using the FUBS debit card.

The details on how to set up FUPS where on a thread I spotted on hotdeals UK. This threads focus was to use the card for xbox store. I basically followed the process but for the Temporary Turkish mobile no for receiving FUPS activation codes I used a different method. All credit for the FUPS process goes to that threads author.

A brief overview for setting up FUPS - You'll need :-

(1) A Turkish address with post code, choose a random one using an address generator, then install the Android app from playstore and set it up. (I used a backup phone with my google Turkey account on it)

(2)Temporary Turkish mobile no for receiving FUPS activation SMS - I set up a virtual Turkish phone using https://5sim.biz/en

(3)Buy a Reloadable FUPS debit card purchased from here (This is the seller I used, he accepts Paypal) Other sellers on https://plati.market/ don't take paypal but are cheaper. If you go for one of them do not buy “Top Up” or “Recharge” you want to buy a FUPS card.

(4)Add the FUPS card to the FUPS APP

(5)A Revolut account to load funds on to the FUPS card.

More details of the steps required PLEASE READ ALL Details including the warnings at the end !!

(1) Install the FUPS app from playstore. Change language to English by clicking over the 3 dots to the top right of the screen and selecting English. Enter your details as required including your email address. A 6 digit code will be sent to your selected email address, enter that into the app. You'll then need a Turkish phone number to proceed further, see next step.

(2) I set up a virtual Turkish phone using https://5sim.biz/en. I used a Revolut disposable card for the payment, I also registered the 5sim account using a different email to the one I used on setting up my FUPS account. I did this on my PC for ease of input but chrome on your phone could be used. Firstly I set up an account there and top it up by 105 Ruble (about 1 euro).There are several options to top up the account, eventually I found one that worked !!!

I then entered FUPS for the "Select service" menu, Turkey for the "Select country" menu and "Virtual32" for select phone menu. It generated a phone number which I used in the FUPS app. FUPS then sends a verification/activation code to that phone number. The verification/activation code is then displayed on the 5sim.biz webpage. Input the verification/activation code into the FUBS app and the account is fully activated.

(3) You will need to buy a reloadable debit card and link it to the FUBS account. Unlike the likes of Revolut and CURVE the FUBS app doe not generate virtual cards with full details of the card available. I recommend you buy a reloadable FUPS debit card purchased from here (This is the seller I used, he accepts Paypal). My PayPal email address is different to the one I used on my FUPS account, I recommend you do likewise. When the purchase in completed the seller will send you a photo of the card with the details, it's automated so you should get in very quickly. Keep these card details safe and do not dispose of it, as the card details are not viewable from within the FUPS app. Again - Keep these card details safe and do not dispose of it, as the card details are not viewable from within the FUPS app !!!

(4)In the FUPS app click on “Cards” and scan the QR code of the photo of the card with the seller sent to you, or manually enter the number code below the QR code. Set up a 4 digit PIN to activate the FUPS card in your app. The Card I received had an expiry of 06/27, it cost €5.46. The card can be used up until it expires. I just need to top it up as required - Topping up details below.

(5) You can to add funds to the card via your Revolut account. I had about 500 TRY already on my account so I did not have to do any currency conversions. The original guide suggested you should have Turkish TRY on your Revolut app before doing any transfer to FUBS. To transfer the money go to “Transfer”. Then select “New” at the top right of the screen, select “Card recipient”, then fill in the required information, the FUPS card number and the amount of TRY currency that you wish to transfer over. Complete the transfer and the money should arrive instantly. I only plan to keep enough money in the account to pay for my subs. Revolut will take a small fee for the transfer. I sent 100 TRY and 100.59 TRY was deducted

That's the FUPS card set up. It can be used for various different Turkish online subs and retail stores like MS Xbox !!

Warning 1:- For obvious enough reasons after everything is set up I recommend you disable contactless transactions on the card in the FUBS app. I also disabled atm withdrawals even though it would require the use of the card pin which is setup in the FUPS app and I disabled shopping by phone mail.

FUPS account recovery method

It's possible to recover your FUPS account if you're logged out of it , replace your phone or just add it to a 2nd phone if you want.

To do this you will need the FUPS Card and CVC numbers, the PIN number you assigned to it during setup and the details of the phone Turkish phone number the card was set up with. 

To see the phone number in the FUPS app go "My Profile icon" and into "personal information" The Turkish phone number starting with +90 is there. It's worth saving all this information in a secure location for future reference !!!

To recover the account or add to a new phone install the app, change the language to English from the 3 dots in the top right corner

1 - After opening the app in english select - "Registered, let's go"

2 - I forgot my password

3 - Enter the Turkish +90 number for the account.

4 - Press continue and enter last 4 numbers of the FUPS card and the cards CVC number.

5 - Enter your 4 digit card pin that you setup during the initial registration 

6 - Select Continue and set the new six digit number password

It's actually easy to do but it very important to note all of the information used during the initial setup , most especially the Turkish number used !!!

_________________________________________________________________________________

NOW ONTO SETTING UP APPLE MUSIC

I managed to get a Apple music account setup using the FUPS card and VPN and chrome entering the card payment details.

I tried the subscription method using the android app VPN and paying through google play/pay but got that "your transaction can't be completed. To continue this transaction, use a different payment instruction or contact us" error. As I stated previously I'm thinking google are somehow blocking the transaction even with a correct an actual Turkish card and VPN.

But the work around using VPN & Chrome to enter the cards payment details worked. With the VPN on I went to https://music.apple.com/ I selected the try it free option and entered my email/account details and the FUBS card as payment method. It worked prefect, one month trial then 19.99 TRY per month which is about 70 cent. Log into the android app using the account details and you are good to go.

If the personal account for apple music is all you want you can stop here. To upgrade to the family plan you will need to install iTunes on your PC and complete you details on apple ID to turn on Two-factor authentication.

Firstly using chrome and VPN go to https://appleid.apple.com/account and logon with your details, enter your Turkish address detail, I used the same ones from my FUPS account. Then enter your Irish mobile number to receive the Two-factor authentication text messages. Luckily you do not need a Turkish phone number for this step !!! You will also need to enter the CVC code for you payment method the FUPS card.

Now go to your PC and install iTunes and log in, you receive the Two-factor authentication text to complete login. You should have the Turkish iTunes. To upgrade apple music from personal to family go to Account -> Apple Music -> Upgrade to family. You have the option to upgrade there

According to apple itself Android users can setup the family group and manage it from the apple music android app and send out invitations to join - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212154

I've completed the upgrade to the family and added my kids. It was a little bit buggy and I had to close out iTunes as it crapped out at the first attempt. It went through fine on the second attempt. I was able to set up the family group via the android app. Depending on the age of your family members (over 13's) you will be required to set up apple id's using the email address you send the invitation to. It'll have to use a Turkish address and it's simple enough to do, set payment details as "none" for any additional accounts you need to add.

I was hoping to have the option to pay an annual fee for the family plan, the option was there for the personal account. Seems it's just monthly available via this method. IOS could be different.

Easy isn't it !!! Enjoy !!!

_________________________________________________________________________________

iTunes gift cards as alternate payment

This assumes that apple take payment from your account balance first which TBH I'm not 100 % sure off but I'm testing after buying iTunes credit :-)

If you loose access to your FUPS card as detailed above in the setup section or you just want to avoid topping up the card you can add Turkish iTunes credit to your account and use it to pay for the subscription, like I said I assume apple take payment from your account balance before charging your card

Turgames seems to be the cheapest option, from what I can tell they charge a small fee of about 5-6% along with current currency rates. Cards there can be purchased using Revolut Disposable and the have an android app too. In theory you could set up the apple music account and even a Netflix account with the FUPS card set as payment method, never top that card up using just gift cards to pay. Turgames also sell Netflix credit at a reasonable price but others may be cheaper.