Hello prawngaara and welcome to the Mobione community.
I can understand your concerns.
It is possible to Build and view your app on an iphone without signing up for Apple membership.. You wont be able to publish through the appstore without account.
You can create your private key on PC using this video guide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpzSXAW0qUI or using one of the guides here on the forum.
If you need is to deploy the app to the Appstore, you will need to get hold of a Developer profile here: https://developer.apple.com/programs/ IOS Developer program
When you have access to your account, you can create all the profiles and certificates you like.
If you have any further questions please feel free to ask.
By the way, there is no reason for doubting Mobione, i currently have 6 Apps in the Appstore around the world, Ipad apps, Iphone apps with support for 3G,4,4s and even Iphone 5.
Ideaweb