Have AdSense Check but no US Dollar Bank Account?

A number of people have emailed me asking about their problems with their Google AdSense Checks. So here’s the question — What to do with your Google AdSense Check if you don’t have a US Dollar Bank Account?

I know this has been answered and discussed many times before but I’ll just put this out clearly for those who don’t know about it yet.

You already have your first Google AdSense Check which is in US Dollar denomination. You don’t have a dollar bank account and you can’t afford to open up an account. The lowest initial deposit I know is Banco de Oro which is $200.

From experience, there are several ways to go about this.

Option 1. Wait out for your next check from AdSense. Hold them off until you get the $200 minimum initial deposit. Use the combined checks to open a US Dollar account. Ninety (90%) percent of the time, banks will not allow this so make sure you’re familiar (or friendly) with the bank’s account manager. Maybe he or she can make an exception for you. Go with the bank where you already have an account (a regular peso account) — they will likely to give you a favor since they already know you (or at least have a good record on your account). Another way to increase the likelihood of getting the exception is if you have several US dollar bills to go along with a deposit — maybe a $100 dollar bill and a $100 dollar check will cut it. Tried these strategies before and it worked.

Option 2. Shoot an email to Google AdSense Support team ([email protected]). Tell them you want to have the check canceled and the credit be returned to your AdSense account. There was a time I thought I lost a check in the mail so I emailed AdSense Support and told them to cancel the check. They replied in about 2 days. Use your AdSense email account when sending out the email along with your complete name and publisher ID.

Once the AdSense team has adjusted your account, you can either set your check payouts in Philippine Peso or move to have Western Union disbursements.

If you opted to get it as a Philippine Peso check, you will have to have a peso bank account to get it encashed. It’s good for people who already have a bank account since it forces you to make a “savings ” deposit. My first year’s checks were in US dollars because I wanted to force myself to save and it was an effective strategy for me. Be careful though. A lot of AdSense publishers have lost their checks in the mail before.

If you want cold hard cash pronto, then go with Western Union disbursements. It can be in US dollars or in Peso and you get to spend it asap.