Complete a challenge deposit or debit authorisation

In order to use your bank account as a payment method (also known as direct debit), you'll need to verify your bank account before your ads can start showing. You can instantly verify your bank account with your account’s user ID and password, or you can verify through a challenge deposit or debit authorisation, which takes two to three days, depending on where your business is located.

If you'd like to view the process for a different country, click the drop-down menu above.

Verify instantly with your bank ID

In the U.S., you have the option to instantly verify your bank account, which is faster and doesn’t require a challenge deposit. Follow these steps to add a bank account and instantly verify with your bank:

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Billing icon .
2. Click Payment methods.
3. Click Add new payment method.
4. Select Bank account and fill in your bank information.
5. To make this your primary payment method, tick the box next to 'Set this payment method as Primary'.
6. Click Save.
7. When prompted to choose how you want to verify your account, select Verify instantly and then click Next.
8. Enter the user ID and password you use to sign into your bank’s website, and agree to the terms and conditions provided.
9. Click Next.

After a few moments, Google will link your bank account to your Google Ads account and verify that it's a valid payment method. If the verification fails, you’ll be prompted to enter your user ID and password again. If verification continues to fail, you can opt to verify by challenge deposit.

Find and enter a challenge deposit

If you choose to verify your bank account by challenge deposit, you'll see a small deposit appear in your bank account about three to five working days after you add your bank account information to your Google Ads account. The deposit will be from Google LLC and should be between $0.15 and $1.15. Make a note of the exact amount and follow the steps below to find and enter this deposit information in your Google Ads account.

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Billing icon .
2. Click Payment methods.
3. Find your bank account and click Verify.
4. Enter the amount of the challenge deposit in the field provided and click Verify.

After you've entered the correct amount, you can start using your bank account as your primary payment method. If you're on the automatic payments setting, then your ads will start running at this point, if they weren't already.

Failed challenge deposits

Every now and then, our attempt to make a challenge deposit may not work. If this happens, you'll receive an email and see an alert in your Google Ads account.