Malaysian AdSense Publishers are being offered payment options thru Western Union as reported in Ades blog here. Before this, payment options for publishers are limited to regular registered* mail which takes around 20 days, DHL** which is about 5 to 7 days but costs $24 or electronic fund transfers***.
Adding Western Union money transfer might be a good alternative especially for countries where bank wire transfers are not supported could be a better idea. Besides, they have over 250,000 Western Union Agent locations in over 200 countries and territories.
However, we’ll have to look into the fees with this option:
From $100 to $300 : $16 fee
For $500 : $32 fee
For $600 : $50 fee
For $750 : $56 fee
For $1,000 : $68 fee
Looking at the chart above, I guess the 2-day transfer thru Western Union might be good for Publishers earning from $100 to $300 a month. Upwards of $500, the fees are a bit more expensive that the 5-day DHL delivery of $24 would be a reasonable option.
*Standard Delivery checks are sent by regular mail and should arrive within 2-3 weeks of the mailing date.
**Secured Express Delivery checks are sent via courier and should arrive within 1 week.
*** Takes 4 to 10 days to clear with the bank with code ‘Google’ or ‘BFS’.
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I’m sure the vast majority of publishers are in the $100-$300 range, so they would benefit. This is why we need a Google Philippines country manager to work these kinds of things for us.
I think Google is looking for one:
http://www.google.com/jobs/openingsintl.html#southeastasia
That Google opening has been there for too long, already.
Western Union might be charging too much, but I would rather pay $16 to have my money in 2 days instead of 2 months (1 month delivery and 1 month check clearing).
Hey, I’m a Philippine publisher and I also received an invitation from Google to try Western Union this morning. Hmmmm. I think publishers should be wary of this because Western Union has a payout limit. I’m having second thoughts also because Western Union is very strict. You have to produce two valid IDs, fill up information sheets yadah yadah.
But one good thing to consider is that those who are invited to try the Western Union payout will not be charged for the service at this time. Hmmmm. Any thoughts?