My September’s AdSense earnings payment was issued few days ago, and this is the first payout since I changed my payment method from standard check to Western Union Quick Cash. I went to CIMB bank in Malaysia a earlier today to cash out my money, and everything went smoothly. Just in case anyone wants a review of this new payment method, here’s my experience.
Before I head over to the bank, which is a Western Union agent, I copied down all the required information, such as
- The amount of your payment
- The Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) for this payment
- Your government issued ID (Passport, Driver’s License, National ID, etc)
- Sender’s information:
Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
USA
All the above information except for your government issued ID of course, can be found in your payment history in your AdSense account, on the “Payment Issued” link. When I reach the bank, I’m told to fill in the “Western Union: To receive money” form. After filling all the information, which is basically the above mentioned ones and some of my details like phone number and address, I proceed to the Western Union counter (in my case, the counter is labeled - just ask if you can’t find it) and hand over the form along with my National ID.
The off-topic questionnaire
While processing my payment, the lady asked me some question that’s off-topic:
Lady: Is the one paying you a company?
Me: Urm, yes..
Lady: There was another guy just now requesting for payment too, from the same company, Google Inc. So why do they pay you?
Me: Er, urm, advertise.. on my blog.. website..*having trouble explaining*
Lady: Oh, advertise. So what do you advertise?
Me: Basically it’s like newspaper, you publish the advertisement near your content. Google will rotate the ads on my blog which will be relevant to my content
Lady: So how much do it cost to publish an ad on the newspaper, hmm, similar size to this? *holding my National ID*
Me: *sweating* I don’t publish ads on newspapers, on my blog instead. I’m paid for every click. The ads is basically links
Lady: Oh, I see.. Can you give me the website? *handing me a piece of paper and a pen*
Me: *writing down http://www.google.com/adsense*
Lady: *looking at my Western Union form I fill in just now* Oh so here’s your phone number. Can I contact you if I have any question later on? I’m quite interested with things like this.. *smiling*
Me: Oh, ok, sure 
Lady: *hand me the notes along with some coins, customer copy of the form and my national ID*
Me: Thanks *grab my money and things, and then get out of the bank happily*
Now I know I’m having trouble explaining what I’m doing all these while. I remember giving out my blog’s address too, hope she wouldn’t mind if she reads this. So far I’m quite happy with Western Union. It saves up at least 6 weeks before I finally get hold on my money.
If I’m still using the standard check payment method, it will around two weeks time for the check to reach my doorstep all the way from United States to Malaysia—and another 4 to 5 weeks for my check to be cleared. But now with Western Union, once the payment is issued I can just head to the bank and cash it out. Fast, easy, and FREE!
If you are in doubt on this new payment method AdSense offer, feel free to ask. I will try my best to clear your doubts. The conversion rate is quite standard too by the way. Mine is at around 3.314 after calculating it myself, might be wrong though.
Image credit: NeonAtticDotCom
Western Union Agents in Malaysia
- CIMB Bank
- Bank Simpanan Nasional
- RHB Bank
- POS Malaysia
These are the major Western Union agents in Malaysia. Not all branch provide the service though, look out for the Western Union logo to know whether the branch you are in provide the service. Else you can go in and ask directly. You can also search it on Western Union website, but it’s somewhat outdated.
P/s: Wondering who is the AdSense publisher that cash out his payment at the same bank as me. Must be someone near..
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11 views
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:35 pm
hi, that’s an interesting post. how do u promote your site? mind giving some tips?
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November 2nd, 2007 at 9:12 pm
Congratulation! You find a new way to cash out!(lame) I wondering why you so serious about your ‘coins’ you get at the bank. Do you really means coins, few bucks only?
haha, gotcha! For your information, Maybank and many others bank also offer this service…Good luck, wanna buy me a meal? 
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November 2nd, 2007 at 11:11 pm
i tot todays rate is 3.34? I saw it in newspaper and yahoo currency converter
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November 2nd, 2007 at 11:47 pm
@Aaron: Work on your content and traffic will come slowly. Of course you have to somehow promote it, else no one will know no matter how good your content is.
@Desmond: What makes you think that I’m so serious about the coins? I don’t see any Western Union logos outside Maybank, maybe I’m overlooked or they did not put it up. By the way, it’s just that Google offer us a new payment method. Still a good news as I can receive the payment much earlier. The check will still be on the way now if I’m using the check option.
@emptyspace: I suppose their rate are slightly lower, not sure though. Or might be they charge a small fee without stating it. I just use the total RM divide by the total USD. But who cares, the conversion rate is pretty much the same when it’s done via check, plus another RM10 as processing fee (for CIMB), or even more for other banks.
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November 5th, 2007 at 12:04 am
Congrats man ! .. how much u get ? hehe .. can teach me also ? >.>
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November 5th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I have got mine too
http://www.riceblogger.com/2007/11/02/successfully-withdraw-adsense-earning-from-western-union/
Pretty easy other than the hassle given by RHB bank
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November 6th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Eh this is a really good write up
very informative XD
I think I will switch to WU for my next month’s payment.. i didn’t know they pay you in cold hard cash as other sites didn’t even mention la
very good man! Thanks for informing!
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November 13th, 2007 at 7:54 am
Thanks for sharing your experience!
I’m quite new to all these - blogging, adsense, etc
I also opt for Western Union payout for my google adsense account though its just my first time.
After going through the details that google adsense wrote about Western Union, I figured that it would be pretty convenient, this post confirmed it that it would be very convenient to us.
Problem is, do we have to start reporting this income?
Now? Or in the near future?
Cheers.
P/S: Vince, are you very familiar with Wordpress? My comments can’t seem to have spaces in between the lines. >_< Is it a problem with the PHP codes or the CSS style codes? Cheers!
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November 14th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Reporting the income? You mean, tax? I’m not sure about this but so far, I did not report any of my online income. You might want to start a thread on any of the blogging forums asking on your WordPress problem, along will necessary details. Good luck.
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January 25th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
congrats madem/sir,
tell me how you success in your jobs
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