A Google Ads user reports they’ve had their account banned for attempting to pay with Apple’s new credit card.
The user says they were banned within hours after using their Apple Card as a payment method for their Google Ads account.
“Last week I received my Apple Card and decided to use it on my Google Ads account for another project. Getting a little bit of daily cash back for my meager ad spend was attractive.
Within a couple of hours of updating my payment method my account had become suspended for suspicious payment activity.”
Needless today, this severely impacted the person’s traffic and sales. The user notes they’re Google Ads certified with over 10 years experience running ad campaigns.
To make matters worse, when trying to call the Google Ads support line to get the issue resolved the user wasn’t able to get through after providing their account number.
After seeking advice from an account manager at another agency, it was suggested that the account suspension was related to using a virtual card.
However, the Apple Card is not virtual. It’s very much a physical card that people can put in their wallets and carry with them.
The greatest difference between the Apple Card and other credit cards is the card number is generated by the iOS wallet app. There’s no number embossed on the card itself.
So that makes the Apple Card a cross between physical and virtual – a hybrid card, if you will.
Even with that being the case, Google’s policy specifically states that it accepts virtual credit cards:
“In addition to regular credit cards, you can also use a one-time use credit card (also known as virtual credit card). It’s commonly used as an alternative to physical credit cards when making online payments.”
My theory is that the Apple Card is so new that Google doesn’t know how to handle it yet. Unfortunately, that means early adopters of the Apple Card are getting their Google Ads accounts flagged.
Until such time as this issue is resolved across the board, it’s probably best not to try paying for Google Ads with Apple’s new credit card.
