After months of whispers and rumors going around the marketing world, Google made it official.
Starting in July 2024, Google Ads has begun rolling out a new payment method for some ad accounts (at this time, it remains to be seen if this is for ALL ad accounts or only a select few). Those who are impacted will no longer be allowed to use credit cards (or debit cards) as a payment method. Instead, selected users will make payments via checks or wire transfers through monthly invoicing or direct debit with their bank.
What’s Next?
Google has started to inform advertisers that they must switch from using a credit card to the above mentioned payment methods by a set deadline to avoid account suspension. The email will look something like this;
Monthly invoicing, as it stood before this change, was reserved for those with $5,000+ in monthly Google Ad Spend. However, there are people online mentioning they’ve received the above email for ad spends in the hundreds of dollars a month range. Direct debit seems to be the option for anyone under that amount.
Credit and debit cards will no longer be accepted for these accounts, and no exceptions will be made.
At the time of this article, there doesn’t seem to be a workaround.
Payment Options Explained
Monthly Invoicing
For monthly invoicing you’ll receive an invoice each month that can be paid by the following;
- Check
- Wire Transfer
- ACH direct deposit (depending on your location)
Eligibility for monthly invoicing is as follows;
- Registered business for at least one year
- Having an active Google account with good standing (no missed payments) for a minimum of 6 months
- Spending a minimum of $5,000 for any 3 of the last 12 months of the year. This, however, may change in light of the recent updates.
Direct Debit
With direct debit, Google will deduct your Google Ad costs directly from your bank account. You’ll need to verify your bank account, either instantly by providing your bank’s user ID and password or via a challenge deposit within three days. Once you’re verified, enter the deposit amount in the “billing & payments” section of your Google Ads account or provide it to your Asterisk Marketing account manager.
Manage Your Own Billing
If you would like to manage your own billing please follow these steps;
- Sign into your Google Ads account
- Click the gear icon in tools and find “billing & payments”
- Find “payment method”
- Enter your information
- Hit submit!
If you need access to your Google Ads account please email your account manager and our team will be happy to help.
Our team will be closely monitoring any emails from Google about the ad accounts we manage and will inform our partners appropriately if or when this happens.
Why Google Why?
Although Google has yet to explain why it’s making this major change, there are working theories that are most likely to be true.
- Lower payment processing fees- an easy way for the company to save money as they no longer have to pay for credit card transaction fees.
- Enhanced payment predictability- Google may be trying to reduce the disruption to services caused by credit card declines or limits hit.