Google AdSense Payment via Western Union in Asia Pacific Will Only Be Available Until August 31, 2022

On Thursday afternoon, July 19, 2022, I received an official email from Google Adsense Team telling me that Google AdSense, AdMob, and Ad Manager payments in Asia Pacific will soon be unavailable.

I've been a Google Adsense Partner Publisher for TechPinas since 2009 and I've been getting my payments through Western Union from then till now so this change will have a big effect on me as a website owner.

Here's their full email:

Hello,

You’re receiving this message because you currently use Western Union as your form of payment. We're writing to let you know that Western Union will stop supporting AdSense, AdMob and Ad Manager payments in the Asia Pacific region starting September 2022.

What's changing

From September 2022, you will no longer be able to receive your AdSense, AdMob, or Ad Manager payments via Western Union. To avoid any delay to your payment, Google recommends that you switch to another available payment method now, before your payments through Western Union stop. You can continue to receive payments through Western Union until August 31. These must be picked up within 90 days of the payment date.

Please note, this change will not affect any YouTube earnings, which will continue to be paid out through Western Union.

What you need to do

To continue to receive your AdSense, AdMob and Ad Manager payments from Google, you must sign in to your account (Google AdSense, Google AdMob, Google Ad Manager) and select a different payment method to continue receiving payments for these services from September 2022.

Any Western Union payments not picked up before November 29, 2022, will be credited back to your account.

Learn more about how to set up a new form of payment for:

• Google AdSense

• Google AdMob

• Google Ad Manager

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

As someone who enjoys looking back for nostalgia and inspiration but always faces forward and chooses to be excited about the future, I welcome this change. However, I do have reservations.

Do you know why I'm still getting my Adsense payments from Western Union after all these years? Even whilst my peers have long jumped to Wire Transfer?

For the simple reason that Wire Transfer gets a huge chunk from Adsense earnings, like PHP 700 to PHP 1,000 less. In contrast, Western Union only gets around PHP 200 to PHP 300 from every payment.

Now that Adsense Payments can no longer be transferred via Western Union, I have no choice but to choose from my BPI, BDO, or Unionbank account for the Wire Transfer. It's like being forced to swallow a bitter pill.

If Western Union would no longer reconsider its decision to stop delivering Google Adsense payments to publishers, I wish that Maya or GCash would partner with Google to make Adsense Payment transfers less costly and more convenient for Pinoy Content Creators. This also presents another great revenue stream for these digital banks since many Filipino Google publishers get Adsense Payments monthly.

Anyway, if you're also a Google Adsense Partner and you're now wondering how you can change your payment setting from Western Union to Wire Transfer via Bank, stay tuned for my next article. I will give you a tutorial on how to do it. Cheers!