Not being able to redeem code without adding in credit card

It's because the code is for a subscription so you need to add a credit/debit card or paypal account,there's no way around this.

Once you've redeemed the code you can turn off auto renewal & remove the credit/debit card if you want.

If your digital code or gift card for Xbox isn’t working correctly, or if you’re receiving an error message when you try to redeem it, follow these steps to troubleshoot the issue.

https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/subscriptions-billing/redeem-codes-gifting/digital-code-solution

Best of luck!

Hello, first it's a pleasure to be able to help you today.

My name is Welcome to the community.

Hello Thomas, you have a payment method added to your account, such as a credit card or Paypal account, without a payment method you will not be able to redeem the subscription code.

Payment Options

https://account.microsoft.com/billing/payments

Added a credit card, still showing the same error when I redeem the code. smh

I am gold,i expires in about 3 weeks,i bought it via redeemable code

I never added paypal as a payment option because i was somewhat able to redeem any code i want before the account migration. I wanted to add paypal this time as a payment option instead of the credit card and see if it works...but i ned a credit card,even
for paypal.