Google Ads Announces End to Debit and Credit Card Payments

Negative changes are coming to Google Ads that will soon affect business owners who use credit cards to earn points, miles, and cash back.

Starting July 31, 2024, Google will no longer accept debit or credit cards for future Google Ads bills. The company says that going forward, it will only accept checks or wire transfers for monthly billing or direct debit.

If you run a business and pay for Google Ads with a credit card, here’s what you need to know:

Google Ads changes payment policy

Many small businesses rely on credit and debit cards to pay for advertising. Business credit cards, in particular, offer valuable benefits, such as a seamless way to manage your cash flow, the ability to balance your balance over time, and even the ability to earn bonus rewards on promotional purchases.

For example, Chase’s popular Ink Business Preferred® card offers 3x Ultimate Rewards points up to $150,000 on combined purchases of internet, cable, phone services, shipping, travel and ads promoted on search engines and social media sites. The latter bonus category offers a ton of points and miles if your business is spending hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on Google Ads each year.

Ultimately, Google Ads’ new policy will force these businesses to adapt quickly. Based on this email from a business owner, it appears the first date for this action is July 31, 2024, and affected advertisers have been notified of this deadline.

“There are no exceptions to this requirement for impacted advertisers,” the company shared in the email. “All impacted advertisers will be similarly notified throughout the coming months.”

Based on this statement, it seems that Google Ads is requiring all advertisers to make this change sooner or later. Thus, businesses will be forced to switch to other payment methods, such as checks or bank transfers, or risk having their accounts suspended.

Final thoughts

Google Ads is important to many businesses, so the decision to ban credit card payments is a big change. This will impact companies that receive compensation for ad purchases, as well as large publishers such as Chase and American Express, who make a lot of money from losses due to credit card payment processing.