Google Ads Payment Declined: Common Reasons & Possible Solutions

No matter how much effort you’ve put into your Google Ads campaign, if you haven’t taken the time to review Google’s policies, you can end up facing significant issues that could make your whole marketing plan go haywire. Worst of all, your payment could be declined, and your ad rejected.

Recently, Google has been regulating ad disapprovals. These regulations involve stricter policies to control the quality of visible ads. Now, payment issues seldom happen. But when they do, they can throw you off, and you’d naturally be worried about being charged too much or too often.

Has your Google Ads payment declined? Worry not. This article will discuss ways to troubleshoot your payment issues and avoid them from arising in the future.

Common Reason Why Google Ads Rejects Your Ads

Google has the power to suspend your Ads account, which means your ads won’t show up at all. As a result, your business will see an overall decrease in leads and conversions. Once Google suspends your account, it may:

• Stop you from developing new content or running any ads, including any existing ads.
• Suspend any linked accounts, including payments and email accounts.
• Suspend Merchant Center accounts linked to your suspended Google Ads account.
• Stop you from making any other accounts in the future.

Google Ads payment declined is perhaps the most common reason your Google Ads account becomes suspended or banned. You should carefully go through the Terms and Conditions and Google Ads Policies to ensure that you have an excellent understanding before you start creating ads.

Ways to Solve Google Ads Payment Declined Issue

To resolve a declined payment, you’ll need to determine why it was rejected in the first place. Typically, you should contact your bank or credit card company to solve the problem.

To figure out how to get your ads up and running again, you need to identify the type of decline you’ve faced.

1. Credit Card Decline

Figure out the reason for the decline

Check declined payment info by clicking the tool icon and selecting “Billing summary” under “Billing.” You’ll see the date of the decline, the amount, and if your Credit Card Company or bank shared the reason for the Google Ads payment declined.

Get in touch with your Credit Card Company or bank

If you can’t determine why the payment didn’t go through, you should contact the bank that issued your credit card. Google Ads support can’t help you with any declined charge.

Here’s how you should contact your bank:

• Contact the support phone number on the back of your credit card.
• Tell the customer rep that you were trying to pay for Google Ads online, but your payment was declined. Notify them of the date and the rejected amount.
• The rep will give you the exact reason for the decline and help you solve the problem.

Get your ads running again.

Select one of the options below to get your ads working.

• Retry it in your Google Ads if you fixed the issue with your credit card.
• Enter a new card if you couldn’t fix the issue with your original card.

If your card issuer or bank is in the European Economic Area, you may have to follow a different authentication process, such as a one-time code sent to your phone.

Option A: Retry your existing credit card

To retry charging your existing credit card, follow these steps:

• Sign into your Google Ads account.
• Click the tool icon, and under “Billing,” choose billing summary.
• Click “Payment methods.”
• Find the credit card with the “Fix it” link.
• Ensure that all the card details are correct.
• Once you’ve ensured that the payment method is correct, click “Fix it” above the credit card details.

Retrying your payment method will automatically trigger a payment for your remaining balance. It may take a few hours to process the transaction.

Follow these steps to do the payment:

• Sign in to your Google Ads account.
• Click the tool icon, and under “Billing,” select “Billing summary.”
• Click the “Make a payment” button.
• Select the payment method you’d like to use for this one-time payment, which could be a previously added method or a new payment option.
• Enter the amount you’d like to pay. The minimum amount required for your ads to run will be shown next to the “minimum payment” field. Click “Make a payment.”
• Ensure all the payment details are correct. Click “Make payment.”

Option B: Enter different billing information

Use a new credit card for your account following these steps:

• Sign in to your Google Ads account.
• Click the tool icon, and under “Billing,” choose “Billing summary.”
• Click “Payment methods.”
• To edit any info find the credit card you want to update, and click “Edit.”
• To edit the credit card number or add a new credit card, click “Add payment method” and enter the latest information.
• Click “Save.”
• Find the credit card you just entered, and click the “Set as Primary” link. This process sets the credit card you just entered as your primary payment method.

Solutions for the most common declined payment reasons.

• • The account doesn’t have enough funds – Ensure there are sufficient funds in your account, then retry your credit card.
  • You’ve exceeded the card’s credit limit or single transaction limit – Contact your bank to increase the limit, then retry your credit card.
  • The card expired – Enter a new credit card.
  • You entered an incorrect card number or CVV/CVN number – Re-enter your credit card info carefully.
  • The issuing bank doesn’t allow the use of the card for internet or international transactions – Contact your bank to allow these types of transactions, then retry the credit card. Or enter a new card that provides internet or international transactions.
  • You exceeded the maximum number of charges the card can receive in a period – Contact your bank to find a solution, then retry the credit card. Alternatively, you can enter a new card.
  • Your bank may not support Strong Customer Authorization – It is needed to authenticate your card or payment in the European Union. Contact your bank to find out if it supports Strong Customer Authentication. Otherwise, you’ll need to use another payment option.

2. Direct Debit (Bank Account) Decline

If your bank account payment appears as “declined” in your account, your bank may not allow you to charge your account. Here’s how you can get your ads running again:

• Determine the reason for the decline
• Contact your bank

Choose one of the options below to get your ads running again.

Option A: Make a payment by credit card or real-time bank transfer

The quickest way to get your ads running again is to make a payment by credit card. A real-time bank transfer is also available in some countries (such as Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden).

Google Ads doesn’t recommend using regular bank transfer in this situation as it takes much longer. Payments by credit card or real-time bank transfer usually process within a business day, and your ads will be able to run within 24 hours.

Here’s how to make a payment:

• Sign in to your Google Ads account.
• Click the tool icon, and under “Billing,” choose Billing summary.
• Click the “Make a payment” button.
• Select the payment method you’d like to use for this one-time payment.
• Enter the amount of the payment you’d like to make. Click “Make a payment.”
• Ensure all the payment details are correct, then click “Make Payment.” If you used a new payment method to pay off your balance, a prompt to re-enable your primary payment method will appear.
• After the payment process, update or re-enable your primary payment method to use it in the future.

Option B: Re-enable your bank account

If you resolved the issue with your bank, and you’d like Google Ads to try charging it again for your overdue balance, follow these steps:

• Sign in to your Google Ads account.
• Click the tool icon, and under “Billing,” choose “Billing summary.”
• Click the “Payment methods” link from the menu on the left.
• Find your bank account with the “Fix it” link.
• Check to ensure that all the bank details are correct.
• Once you’ve made sure that your bank account will work, click the “Fix it” link.
• After you re-enable the bank account, your payment will typically process within three to five business days, and your ads will be able to run within 24 hours afterward.

Option C: Add a new bank account

If you’d like to use a different bank account for this payment, you’ll have to change your primary payment option. You’ll need to either send Google a new direct debit authorization or verify a test deposit in the new bank account.

Here’s how you can change your primary payment option to a new bank account:

• Sign in to your Google Ads account.
• Click the tool icon, and under “Billing,” choose “Billing summary.”
• Click “Payment methods.”
• Find the appropriate payment method, and click “Edit.”
• Enter your updated information. You’ll need to send a new debit authorization or verify the new bank account before your ads can run.
• Click “Save” when completed.
• Once you’ve entered your billing information, and Google Ads receives your bank account verification or authorization, Google initiates a charge of the remaining balance.

Solutions for the most common declined payment reasons.

• The account doesn’t have enough funds – Check your bank account to ensure it has sufficient funds.
• The account owner’s name doesn’t match the info you provided – Update your billing info with the correct details.
• The issuing bank doesn’t allow using the bank account for online or international transactions – Contact your bank to allow these types of transactions.
• The bank account doesn’t exist anymore – Update your billing info with a different bank account or a credit card.

3. A Declined Payment If You’re Monthly Invoicing

If you recently changed payment settings from automatic payments to monthly invoicing, and have a remaining balance left over, follow these steps to pay off your account:

• Sign in to your Google Ads account.
• Click the tool icon, and under “Billing,” choose “Billing summary.”
• Click the “Billing transfers” from the menu on the left.
• Click the “Invoice setup” for which you’d like to make a payment.
• Click “Summary” from the menu on the left.
• Click the “Make a Payment” button to make a payment for your outstanding balance.

How to Re-enable a Declined Payment Method in Google Ads

If your Google Ads payment declined, the option might be disabled in your Google Ads account. Before re-enabling with the steps below, call your bank or credit institution to ensure you can use the payment method in your Google Ads account, if necessary.

• Sign in to your Google Ads account.
• Click the tools icon, and under “Billing,” click Billing settings.
• Click Payment methods from the left menu.
• Find your payment method, and check to ensure that all details are correct for this payment option.
• Click the “Re-enable payment method.”

Common Concerns Regarding the Google Ads Payment Charges

Google Ads won’t charge you more than your advertising costs. These costs don’t include taxes or fees that may apply to some countries. Your charge covers:

Charged amount = Current costs (costs from this billing period) + Outstanding balance (unpaid fees from previous billing periods)

If your total advertising costs are more significant than your payment threshold (the amount that triggers a charge), the extra costs will be added to your outstanding balance for the next order.

Following are some concerns that can help clear your mind about the Google Ads payment charges.

Charged More Than Once in a Month

Charges don’t typically happen once a month or at the end of the month. They can occur several times throughout the month and are based mainly on thresholds or the set amount of costs your account reaches. This amount triggers a charge, meaning Google may charge you more than once a month.

For example, if your threshold is $500, Google will charge you every time your costs reach $500 within the same month. If your expenses total $2,000 in a month, you’ll be charged $500 four times (4 x 500 = 2,000).

Identical Charges

Although rare, if you see two identical charges from Google Ads on your credit card or bank statement, there might be two reasons:

• Authorization request – This is a request between Google’s billing system and the bank that issued your credit card. It usually disappears within several days.
• Double charge – An error can cause a double charge, which means your account is billed twice for the same amount, and neither charge shows “pending” on your statement.

If your bank statement shows any of these reasons, contact your bank for help.

Charged for More Than Average Daily Budget

Internet search traffic varies from day-to-day. To compensate for these variations and ensure that your campaigns reach their full potential, Google may allow up to 2x more interactions in a day than your average daily budget specifies.

Google Ads call this “over delivery.” However, Google’s system ensures that in a given billing period, you’re never charged more than the number of days in that billing period multiplied by your average daily budget.

For example, if you budget US$10 per day, and Google charges for a monthly billing period, the maximum you would pay is US$304.

If Google over-delivers your ads and you accrue more costs in a billing period than your budget allows, a credit will automatically be applied to your account. For instance, if you accrue $100 in clicks in one month, but you have an average daily budget of $2 per day (and, therefore, $60 per monthly billing period), you’ll receive a $39.2 overdelivery credit.

To check whether you’ve received any overdelivery credits, follow these steps:

• Sign in to your Google Ads account.
• At the top of the page, click the tools icon, and then under “Billing,” choose “Summary.”
• Click “Transactions” from the menu on the left.
• Click “Campaign activity.”
• Any credits for the excess activity will be labeled “Over delivery credit.”

Charged After Already Initiating a Manual Payment

If you use the automatic payment setting and then make a manual payment, Google may charge you on your automatic billing cycle. Here’s why:

• An automatic payment was already in progress when you initiated your payment. The automatic payment cycle is punctual, so Google may still charge you if you made your payment when this process was underway.
• You reached the end of your billing cycle – Once you make a manual payment, your account returns to its usual billing cycle. You’ll receive an automatic charge after your account costs reach your payment threshold.

Charged After Entering a Promotional Code

After your promotional credit is over, your ads will continue to run, and you’ll accrue advertising costs. If you’ve consumed your credit and want to stop accruing fees, pause your campaigns.

Charged Outside Billing Cycle

You might be charged outside your billing cycle in the following cases:

• You’ve made a manual payment.
• Google may have recently upgraded your account to a new billing interface.

Charged After You Stopped Your Ads or Canceled Your Account

Once you stop your ads from running by canceling your account or pausing or removing your campaigns, the Google Ads system can take several hours to stop your ads completely.

At this point, you won’t accrue any more costs. However, you’ll be billed for any unpaid advertising costs that accrued before your ads stopped running.

To see whether you have any unpaid advertising costs:

• Click the tools icon, and then under “Billing,” choose “Summary.”
• Next, look at your current balance at the top of the page.

Charges on Bank Statement Don’t Match Your Google Ads Account

Sometimes, your bank statement charges are different from those you see in your Google Ads account. Here are some common reasons why:

Charges are off by a day or two.

Often this is expected because both Google Ads and banks operate on different systems, so payments don’t always happen simultaneously.

Bank charges aren’t appearing in Google Ads.

If this occurs, here’s what you can do to review the two accounts:

• For more than one Google Ads account, check each account to see if the charges appear (in many cases, your 10-digit customer ID number is shown on your bank statement).
• If you still can’t determine where the charge is coming from, you can contact Google’s support team.

Wrap Up

With such a vast list of ad policies, it can be overwhelming to make an ad that’s aligned with Google’s standards, resulting in the occasional ad disapproval. Ensure your ads follow Google’s standards, and know precisely how to solve any issues quickly and easily.

Ad disapprovals can be challenging and can even suspend an account for repeat offenders. Using these tips and reviewing Google updates, you can resolve any Google Ads payment declined issues and set yourself up to avoid getting stuck with these issues down the line.