Apple

The first iPhone had to be hooked up to iTunes to be activated. They should be activated at the store for you unless she ordered it as a replacement, in which case yes, she needs to hook it up to iTunes to activate it for you. It's VERY simple.

As far as the credit card goes, she needs to put one on so when she makes purchases it'll justy charge they card. Also, the credit/debit card is used to verify identity. Hope this helps!