As creators and viewers, our YouTube experience revolves around video content. But without billing, there is no revenue streaming in for our favorite creators!
Overhead shots of YouTubers with cash raining down on them thrive on Instagram for a reason – influencers earning life-changing money is the modern social media success story.
But before seeing their first payout, managing confusing YouTube billing settings leaves many wondering:
"How do I even get paid on this platform?"
Which is why properly customizing your AdSense account and payment information is so essential.
In this guide, we‘ll explore step-by-step how to:
- Update your YouTube billing settings
- Resolve error messages and payment issues
- Cash in on monetization opportunities
Armed with the right knowledge, you can get one step closer to unlocking the lucrative side of YouTube most people miss out on.
Why YouTube Billing Settings Matter
YouTube brought in $28.84 billion in total revenue last year according to statistics firm Statista.
How did they generate such impressive income?
As the second most valuable search engine behind Google, YouTube earns:
- 55% revenue from premium subscriptions
- 45% revenue from advertising placements
Of the video ad profits, YouTube keeps 45% while creators receive the remaining 55% cut.
This means properly customizing billing settings directly impacts earnings for YouTubers and the platform itself.
But advertising and premium subscribers represent only two monetization methods on the site.
YouTube also drives profits from:
-
Super Chat & Super Stickers – Direct viewer donations during live streams
-
Channel Memberships – Recurring monthly fees that offer perks
-
Affiliate Links – Creators recommend products and get sales commissions
-
Merchandise – Products featuring custom YouTuber designs
And as emerging features like Shorts take off, new ways to generate YouTube revenue enter the scene.
With so much money swirling around uploads and subscriptions, errors with billing can damage a creator‘s bottom line.
Let‘s explore how to maximize earnings by customizing billing properly.
Accessing YouTube Billing Settings on Desktop
Depending on what stage you find yourself at with YouTube monetization, the exact path to changing billing settings differs slightly.
But the location of the core payment menus remains the same – hovering behind your profile icon.
When viewing any YouTube page while signed in, glance up to the top right corner:
Click on your profile picture or avatar to open a dropdown menu listing options like:
- YouTube Studio
- Settings
- Help
- Send feedback
Select the Settings tab from this list.
At the bottom of the left sidebar menu revealed under YouTube Settings, you should see:
- Notifications
- Library
- Account
- YouTube Studio for Artists
- Premium membership
- Billing and payments <- Select this one
- Purchases and memberships
- Switch account
Choose Billing and payments to access your:
- Payment methods
- Billing history
- Download reports
- Transactions
Let‘s explore how to update details or fix issues under billing settings next.
Changing YouTube Payment Methods on Desktop
From under the Billing and payments tab selected earlier, access payment details by clicking Payment methods.
This section allows adding, editing, or removing your current go-to payment profile.
For example, to modify a card on file or switch payment email address, choose Edit.
To change payment method completely (different card, PayPal account, etc), select Change.
The ability to edit current details or choose a brand new option makes updating billing convenient.
But what happens once submitting an altered payment method?
YouTube will first authorize the provided details which temporarily charges your account.
After 1-3 business days, the authorization gets released and a true payment charge processes during your normal billing cycle.
Having an extra pending transaction briefly can be confusing, but prevents issues for YouTube verifying legitimate payment data.
Now that we‘ve covered changing payment data, let‘s examine how to handle inevitable billing issues next.
Resolving Common YouTube Billing Errors
With numerous details like card numbers, CVV codes, addresses, and expiration dates needing input correctly payment methods often fail at first.
In my experience, likely errors encountered include:
Invalid Information
- Incorrect card number
- Mistyped expiration date or CVV code
- Billing address does not match bank details
Insufficient Funds
- Debit card gets declined due to low account balance
- Attempting a transaction between paychecks can pose problems
Card Expired
- Previous card number submitted without updating new expiration
Bank Restriction
- Fraud prevention restriction temporarily blocks the transaction
- International purchase prevented by regional bank
Verification Check
- Large purchase unexpectedly attempted
- Irregular spending pattern triggered authentication protocol
Thankfully resolving these common issues only takes a few quick steps:
-
Double check accurate card details are entered properly
-
Contact bank to remove restrictions or confirm sufficient funds
-
Submit requested photo ID verification to YouTube via app
-
Add an alternative payment method instead like PayPal
Following troubleshooting advice, I easily cleared up my own channel membership billing failure.
After the YouTube mobile app displayed an error saying my card got declined, I phoned my bank. They explained an international transaction block prevented the small $4.99 fee from processing.
Lifting the regional restriction instantly allowed recurring payments towards my favorite creator‘s video series to continue the following month.
But what if YouTube billing problems persist even after correcting details multiple times?
Reaching YouTube Purchase Support
In rare cases where billing settings act up inexplicably, you may need to reach the YouTube Payments and Purchases team directly.
Start by heading to the YouTube Help Community forums and posting about your problem for other users to potentially suggest advice.
If your issue receives no helpful responses or persists over long periods of time, try these two contact options:
Request Call in YouTube Studio
- From YouTube Studio app/dashboard, go to Settings > Help > Request call
Email YouTube Payments Team
Describe your situation in detail and a YouTube representative should contact you shortly to troubleshoot further.
Getting in touch with real employees often speeds up resolving account-specific payment glitches.
Now that we‘ve covered the basics of changing billing settings plus addressing errors, let‘s get into the lucrative monetization opportunities available once setup properly.
Maximizing Revenue with YouTube Payments
In 2022, YouTube channel sponsors earned a median income of $15,972 per year just from AdSense placed video ads according to finance advice company Investopedia.
With top creators easily garnering over $40 million from uploads annually, getting paid represents why over 37 million channels exist on the platform.
Let‘s break down how to cash in on affiliate links, channel memberships, merch, and more after enabling monetization.
AdSense
Representing the baseline way to earn from YouTube uploads apart from sponsorships, Adsense displays ads on qualifying videos then pays out earnings.
Hosting ads requires having your channel get accepted into the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) which involves:
- Verifying your account via mobile
- Living in an approved country
- Agreeing to terms of service
- Following community guidelines
- Hitting 1,000 subscribers + 4,000 hours watched over the last year
Once gaining access to YPP, visit YouTube Studio Analytics to track:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| RPM | Revenue per thousand video views |
| Revenue | Total lifetime video ad earnings |
| Estimated Revenue | Projected next month video ad earnings |
With AdSense enabled, YouTube shreds 45% of ad sale profits while paying creators the larger 55% piece of the pie.
Channel Memberships
Diehard viewers can pay between $1-$50 per month for special access, emoji, badges, and exclusive content.
Offer members-only community posts, livestreams, downloads, deals, direct messaging and more via channel memberships.
YouTube earns 30% of membership profits with creators banking the remaining 70%.
Consult membership revenue analytics by viewing in YouTube Studio:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Memberships | Number of current paying members |
| $ Earned monthly | Total recent membership period income |
| Join rate (%) | Percentage of viewers signing up |
Channel memberships drastically exceed AdSense, funding creator passion projects audiences request.
Affiliate Links & Merch
Beyond ads and subscriptions, affiliate marketing merch cloaks another YouTube monetization layer.
Publishers wanting to move further towards social selling commonly:
- List their favorite gear/equipment in video descriptions with Amazon/eBay affiliate links to earn sales commissions
- Feature clothing collections, posters, mugs and other branded merch for fans to purchase
YouTubers wanting to develop online stores frequently enlist print-on-demand marketplaces like Teespring to create inventories.
Merch requires large existing audiences excited to rep content creator apparel and items after uploads go viral.
Key Takeaways
With YouTube acting as both an entertainment hub and income generator, correctly accessing billing settings allows you to:
- Update payment method details easily via Settings menu
- Identify issues blocking transactions then resolve them
- Review analytics tracking revenue from ads, memberships & beyond
Want to chat more about maximizing your channel‘s money-making opportunities?
Drop any final questions below for me in a comment!
