I have a 2011 MacBook and my wife has two iPhones, none of which are paired with a credit card.
It's been a while since I set it up, but if I recall correctly you can create your "Apple ID" online and select 'None' for the credit card, then you sign in on your device with that account.
When you're creating an account on the device, I think it may force you pair a credit card though.
It doesn't force you, but it is pretty insistent. You have to look for options really hard to see how to avoid entering a credit card. But it is possible.
Interesting. My experience was that I eventually resigned to giving a fake identity and a fake credit card number to get rid of all the nagging and annoyances. That's with a 2010 MacBook (annoyances appeared during an OS upgrade, if I recall), a 2012 MacBook Pro and a 2013 MacBook Air.
It's been a while since I set it up, but if I recall correctly you can create your "Apple ID" online and select 'None' for the credit card, then you sign in on your device with that account.
When you're creating an account on the device, I think it may force you pair a credit card though.