If you are an author, content creator, or developer monetizing your content, video, and/or android app using Google Adsense & AdMob, you should check this out how you can get paid from google now that you can no longer choose a Western Union as AdSense payment method!
Google announced they will drop Western Union as the payment method in early 2021
Last week, I got an email notification from Google AdSense saying that they will discontinue using Western Union as a payment method for Adsense, AdMob, and Ad Manager.
Choose a different way to receive payments
Hello!
As of early 2021, Google will stop disbursing payments through Western Union.
To continue to receive payments from Google, you must sign in to your account (Google AdSense, Google AdMob, Google Ad Manager) and add or select a different method for receiving payments.
Learn more about how to set up a new form of payment for:
• Google AdSense
• Google AdMob
• Google Ad ManagerThank you!
The Google Payments Team
What is Google AdSense?
Before we proceed, lets discussed what is Google AdSense for beginners. According to Wikipedia, Google AdSense is a program run by Google through which website publishers in the Google Network of content sites serve text, images, video, or interactive media advertisements that are targeted to the site content and audience.
AdSense is the most popular and widely used third-party advertising vendor and is the advertising platform partner for monetizing youtube videos. It provides a new way of earning online by showing a relative advertisement to videos on youtube, articles, and contents on websites, and android apps. The advertisement is paid by advertisers who promoted their contents, products, and services across the globe. This is a real opportunity if you are seeking an alternative way of living which is perfect for work at home setup.
How to Earn from Google AdSense?
There are three ways to earn money from Google AdSense.
- Website – You need a website with rich and quality content. It can be a hosted website that you need to purchase a domain and pay for web hosting services, or it can be a free hosting blog site like WordPress.com and/or blogger.com.
- Application – First, you need to be a developer to create android applications. Next, your application should be hosted on GooglePlay, the official digital distribution service of the Android operating system developed by Google.
- Youtube – You need to be a content creator. If you want to engage with this, you need to create videos and upload them to your youtube channel.
How to Join Google AdSense?
If you are an app developer who loves to create useful android applications or an article author who loves to write quality content of your chooses niche, just register to Google AdSense right in your web browser. However, if you are already a youtube content creator and wanted to monetize your videos, go to Youtube Studio and click “Monetization.”
How to get approval from Google AdSense?
- Websites – You need to write quality and original content. Another website you can also consider to build is online tools, classified advertisements, forums, social media, and many more.
- Youtube – You need to upload quality and copyright-free content. Work harder to get at least 1000 subscribers and continue sharing your videos across the web to reach at least 40,000 watch-hours.
- Android App – Your android application should not violate users’ privacy.
If you reach the minimum criteria above, you will be likely approved in AdSense. The next thing you should do is to verify your address. Go to Google AdSense and enter your valid address. Once entered, Google will send you a physical letter right into your doorstep to confirm that your address is real. In my case, it arrived a month after my application but in some cases, it may take up to 6 months, depending on your address, according to some users.
How to withdraw the money earned from AdSense?
Currently, there are 3 ways to withdraw your earnings from Google AdSense.
Wire Transfer
Wire transfer is a form of electronic fund transfer from a bank to another bank account in any area around the globe. It is a fast, reliable, and secure way to withdraw your earning from Google AdSense. If you choose to receive payment via wire transfer, you need to open a bank account in your local currency. In some cases, if your bank does not support, you need to open a bank account in EURO currency if you are in the European region, and a USD bank account if you are in the Pacific region and the rest part of the world.
Advantages of Wire Transfer
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- You don’t need to spend a couple of months (some say up to 6 months) waiting for your check to deliver at your doorstep if you choose to check payment.
- Fast and secure payment right into your bank account.
- You don’t need to print confirmation from google and bring it to any Western Union branch to pick up your money.
Disadvantages of Wire Transfer
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- In my country (Philippines) there is a bank(s) that does not support wire transfer to your local PHP (Peso) account, so you need to open a USD (US Dollar) account, which minimum maintaining balance is $100.00. This is costly for those who just started earning cents from AdSense.
Western Union Quick Cash
This is the most convenient and accessible to newly approved users which has no access to bank account yet. This payment is currently available to selected countries. Check out Googles’ article to learn more.
Check
Google will write a check with the amount you earned and then send it right into your door-step. This is why Google needs to verify if your address is deliverable. After receiving your check, go to your bank and deposit it to your account. In my case, it took me 30 working days for my bank to process the check and transfer the amount to my account.
This is the payment method I choose to get my very first payment from Google Adsense because I am unaware that there’s a much faster payment method like Western Union and Wire Transfer. It was sent in July 2019 and I was able to receive the check on September 2020 which was delivered PhilPost, a local courier in my country, Philippines. It is a check from Citi Bank from New York, USA, which worth $102.36.
Because this is my first time to receive a USD check, I thought it will be encashed only in Citi Bank branches. I went to their branch and said that I need to open a CitiBank USD account.
One downside of getting paid through check is that there are many reports it gets lost.
Western Union Quick Cash as Google AdSense payment method
Google first started offering Western Union Quick Cash as a payment method 13 years ago. This is the fastest way to withdraw your earnings from AdSense safely compare to wire transfer and check. On August 10, 2020, Google announces that it will remove Western Union as a payment gateway. New users who had not yet selected Western Union will no longer see this payment option while users who selected this payment gateway will continue receiving their earnings until the end of 2020.
This decision will affect earners from the developing countries which was merely no access to bank accounts. A good example is my country, the Philippines, which was in the third world economy. 2 years ago when I noticed that youtube started to floods vlogger. These are Travel, Education, DIYs, Technology, Reviews, Music Covers, and even Fake News which spreading misinformation.
However, due to the lack of stable and enough ways of living, youtube “vlogging” means job to some of the wanna be’s in my country.
Now that Google AdSense will no longer support Western Union as their payment method, people with no bank accounts will be directly affected, not just in the Philippines, but the rest of the world.
No more Western Union on AdSense payment. What to do?
- If you already choose Western Union as your payment method, don’t worry. Google will pay you using WU until the end of 2020. You should now choose another payment method available which is Wire Transfer and Check, before the end of the year.
- However, if you are new to AdSense, and haven’t yet chosen your default payment method, or haven’t yet chosen WU as your payment gateway, you will no longer see Western Union Quick Cash in your payment method option.
- If you are struggling to choose a payment method, I will advise you to choose Wire Transfer instead of Check. Go to the nearest local bank and inquire on how to open a bank account. If you are in the Philippines, read this tutorial to learn how to open a bank account with a minimum maintaining balance of as low as P500.00 ($10.00) only.