Google Will no Longer Pay Argentinian Developers
Google Play will no longer be able to accept payments on behalf of developers registered in Argentina starting June 27, 2013. This is among the contents of a letter dispatched to Android developers based in Argentina from Google Inc.
Owing to some strict regulations relating to foreign currency that the Argentinian government has placed in the country, Google has probably found it hard to comply and has thus pulled out of the market altogether. The government regulations require any currency conversion to go through an online approval process, followed by a little more hassle. Google’s move to stop accepting payments applies to both Play Store and in-app purchases. Customers in the country however, will still get to purchase apps.
All paid apps from Argentinan merchant account solutions will be pulled from the Play Store on 27 June 2013. Free apps, however, will stay on. The letter also states that all pending payments will be settled by 22 July, 2013. The company has also suggested that developers based in Argentina who still wish to make money off apps could have their accounts transferred to some other nation where such restrictions do not apply.
Here’s a full copy of Google’s letter:
We are writing to you today to inform you that Google Play will no longer be able to accept payments on behalf of developers registered in Argentina starting June 27, 2013. Developers based in Argentina may continue to offer free applications in the Google Play store. All applications requiring the billing permission as well as in-app products will be unpublished from the Google Play store on June 27, 2013. A payout for your earnings through this time will be made on July 22, 2013. If your accumulated earnings at that time do not meet the payout threshold, you may close your linked AdSense account to receive a final payment.
If you are legally able to do business in one of the other supported countries and otherwise satisfy the Google Wallet Terms of Service for that country, you may register for a Google Wallet Merchant Center account in that country and transfer your applications to it. To review the Google Wallet Merchant Center account Terms of Service, go to this link:
https://checkout.google.com/termsOfService?type=Seller
You would need new Google Play Developer account to tie to your new Merchant account. To learn more about creating new Google Play Developer account and transferring your applications, please visit our Help Center at https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/139626
If you have any questions, please contact Google Checkout Merchant team at https://support.google.com/payments/?hl=en#topic=3091397&ts=3126357&contact=1
We hope to restore payouts to developers based in Argentina in the future. While no specific plans are in place at the moment, we are looking forward to restoring this service, and we will make sure to notify you once payouts to developers based in Argentina are restored.
Regards,
The Google Play Team
For those who won’t transfer their accounts – Google has still offered hope. The letter mentions “We hope to restore payouts to developers based in Argentina in the future.”