Yes, I’ve found the easiest way to receive Google AdSense payments in the Philippines!
I was a bit unsure of how to receive payments after Google removed Western Union as an option. While it was a hassle to physically go to a branch to claim the money, I deemed it safer than waiting for a cheque to be sent through the post.
I mean, we’ve all heard of horror stories about packages not being released or worse not getting to the intended recipient.
The other option was to receive it through direct bank transfer. But on AdSense, it says you need a dollar account for it. You can, of course, try to open one up. But the required initial deposit for it is USD500 and not everyone may have that amount off the bat.
The good news is you can actually receive your Adsense payment in the Philippines without shelling out a cent*. Here’s how I did it.
How to claim AdSense payments via bank transfer
I looked up ways to get payments via bank transfer online but most of the posts I saw said I needed a dollar account. One said you can use any local savings account though. But I wasn’t convinced just yet.
So I searched some more and found a few people saying that not all types of savings account work. One said they tried with BPI but their earnings were returned to their Google AdSense account a few days after it was sent to their bank account.
There was another one who said that they tried it with another bank and the process was a breeze!
I wasn’t sure why it didn’t occur to me right away, considering the bank has always been ahead of the rest when it comes to digital transactions.
When my husband and I were still freelancing around 11 years ago, we opened an account with them because they’re the only ones offering debit cards that can be used like credit cards. At the time, we used it to activate our PayPal accounts, where we would get paid by clients overseas.
Okay, I’m sure you’re itching to know which bank it is. But I’m pretty sure you already have an idea too. It’s UnionBank!
Remember that I mentioned I didn’t need to set aside any amount for an initial deposit? Yup, it’s true. I didn’t even have to leave my house to open an account.
If you’re curious about how I did it, I have a step-by-step guide on the easiest way to open a bank account in the Philippines.
How to set up wire transfer for your AdSense payments
I changed my payment preference on Google AdSense as soon as I got my account number from UnionBank. And let me tell you, it didn’t take long — at all.
I didn’t time it, but maybe five minutes after I applied for an account and finished filling out everything on the app, I logged on with my personal details and there it was — my account was ready.
I immediately chose to receive payments through wire transfer on AdSense. Here’s how I did it.
- I clicked on ‘Payments’, which can be found on the left side of the screen.
- Under ‘Payments Info’, I chose ‘Manage Payment Methods’. I then clicked on ‘Add payment method’.
- I selected ‘Add new wire transfer details’. This won’t affect your existing payment methods, if you have any. So just go right ahead.
- I then put my bank info. The beauty of using a UnionBank savings account is you don’t need to contact them or do anything as long as you already have your account number. Fill out the necessary fields.
- The ‘Beneficiary ID’ is tagged as optional by Google, so you can just leave that blank. Don’t worry about it!
- Name on bank account. Make sure it’s the exact one you used when you applied for your account so as not to encounter any trouble.
- Bank name. Put the complete, proper name of your bank. For UnionBank, that’s Union Bank of the Philippines.
- SWIFT BIC. Each bank has a different one. In the case of UnionBank, it’s UBPHPHMMXXX.
- Account number. Double-check the numbers for the first line! You’ll be asked to retype this. So double-check again.
- You can then just leave ‘Intermediary Bank’ and ‘FFC’ and ‘FBO’ blank.
Set it as your primary payment method, and you’re good to go! You just need to wait for your earnings to be sent to your account.
How long does it take for the payment to be received?
Google sends payments between the 21st and 25th of each month, as long as you surpass the USD100 threshold (or the threshold which you set up yourself, but the minimum amount is 100).
I was notified on the 21st that my earnings have been sent to my account, and I was anxious to know when I’ll receive them. Like any other person waiting for money they’re expecting, I checked multiple times in a day of course. Haha.
To my surprise (and delight), I received it just two days after it was sent!
Google does advise you to check in with your bank in the event that you don’t get the money within five business days after it’s sent out. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait that long or even have any trouble at all.
I’m quite happy with the experience. It’s truly the easiest way to get AdSense payment in the Philippines. But is it the best way? This thing I’m going to share may be a dealbreaker for you. It isn’t for me, just because of the convenience of just waiting for things to come in (at least so far).
It will cost you nothing to open a savings account with UnionBank; they even waive the annual fee for the normal account, which is P350, in the first year. (Yes, it has an annual fee because you don’t need to maintain a balance to keep the account alive!) But they will take a portion of your earnings.
I haven’t looked up if the amount is a certain percentage of your total earnings or if the currency exchange also has anything to do with it. I’ll update this once I receive earnings again just to compare and try to figure out how they compute for it in case I don’t find info online.
But just to be transparent, they took around P500 from what I expected to receive. It wasn’t something I didn’t know will happen though! I read that someone had around P700 taken from theirs. So I had time to prepare myself for it and just think of it as a necessary fee for processing the payment.
(Just to compare: I receive payments for a writing gig through Wise, and the platform also takes a cut from my pay. So I just think of UnionBank’s cut that way.)
Will I continue to use this method to receive Google AdSense payments as someone in the Philippines (which isn’t part of Google’s list of countries that can receive direct local transfer)? Definitely!
Imagine saving yourself from worrying about where your cheque is or if it will ever come in. I’m glad I don’t have to because of this method.
Let me know if you’ll try it too!