Google expands financial services verification to US and Canada

Google will require advertisers running certain financial ads in the United States and Canada to prove they are authorised by a regulator or listed on a recognised registry before those ads can serve. The company announced on 20 October that its Financial Services Verification program reaches both countries in early 2027, with country-specific instructions promised before enforcement begins.

The program already covers about 2 billion internet users across 42 countries, which Google describes as the broadest of its kind. It began in the United Kingdom in 2021 and most recently expanded across the European Union. North America is the next step, and it shows where Google's advertiser checks are heading for anyone selling loans, insurance, investments or payment products through Google Ads.

What Google announced

The announcement came from Keerat Sharma, Google's vice president and general manager for ads privacy and safety. Google said more than 97% of the ads people see on Google in the US and Canada already come from identity-verified advertisers. Financial Services Verification adds a second, specialised check on top of that identity step.

Under the policy, an advertiser must show it is authorised by the relevant regulator or appears on a recognised registry before running certain financial ads. Google's stated aim is to stop brand impersonation and keep scammers away from people who are opening an account or comparing credit cards.

In the US, Google is working with the American Bankers Association to use the association's registry to confirm authorised banks before their ads run. In Canada, Google says it is engaging with the Canadian Bankers Association ahead of the rollout. Because rules differ between countries, Google plans a phased implementation adapted to each market.

Google also pointed to its automated systems. In 2025, it said, Gemini helped catch more than 99% of policy-violating ads before they served. Verification is the upfront layer, and Google's automated systems block bad ads in real time, most of them before they ever serve. The work sits alongside the Global Signal Exchange, where Google shares fraud information with finance and law enforcement bodies.

How the check works today

Google's financial products and services policy already describes location-specific verification for the markets where it applies. The process usually involves telling Google what type of services you provide, the licences you hold to provide them, your registration numbers and other relevant details about the business.

The same policy page sets out what counts as a financial product or service: anything related to the management or investment of money and cryptocurrencies, including personalised advice. That is a wide net. Banks and lenders are obvious, but so are brokers, financial planners, comparison sites, crypto exchanges and lead generators that pass enquiries to third-party lenders.

The policy page also lists the disclosure and product rules that apply whether or not verification is required in a market:

• Every financial ad destination must show the physical address of the business, all associated fees, and links to any third-party accreditation it claims or implies.
• Personal loan ads must disclose the minimum and maximum repayment period, the maximum APR and a representative example of the total cost. Google allows only personal loans that "require repayment in full in 61 days or longer".
• Advertisers targeting the US cannot promote personal loans with an APR of 36% or higher.
• Credit repair services and binary options are not allowed at all.
• Debt services, contracts for difference, spread betting, forex, cryptocurrency products and prediction markets are restricted, mostly to certified advertisers in eligible locations.

Google says violations of these rules do not lead to immediate suspension. A warning is issued at least seven days before an account is suspended. That grace period is useful, but it is short if your compliance documents are not already in hand.

Who is affected

Directly, the change applies to advertisers whose ads target the United States or Canada. For an Australian business, that includes fintechs with a North American customer base, lenders or brokers that serve expats, and anyone running comparison or affiliate campaigns into those markets. If your campaigns include US or Canadian locations and your product touches money, assume you will be asked to verify.

Google has said it will notify advertisers if and when they need to complete the process once verification opens. Accepted registries, required credentials and onboarding steps will be published for each country before then. For US and Canadian targeting there is nothing to submit yet. The job is to know which regulator or registry covers you in each market and to have the paperwork ready.

Indirectly, the announcement matters to every financial advertiser. Google has extended the program from the UK in 2021 through Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Europe, and now to North America, and describes it as a model it adapts country by country. Verification is becoming a standard condition of advertising finance on Google.

Where Australia stands

Google's announcement does not name the 42 countries where the program already runs, but Google's policy pages do, and Australia is one of them. Google has required Financial Services Verification for ads shown to Australian users seeking financial services since 30 August 2022. Advertisers are checked against ASIC, the Australian Financial Security Authority and the Australian Business Register, and must prove they hold an ASIC licence or an exemption. Most advertisers first verify through Google's vendor G2RS, then submit the G2RS code to Google. Approved third parties such as affiliates, resellers and lead generation agencies are vouched for by the licensed advertiser they work with.

That verification covers Australia only. Google requires a separate verification for each targeted location, so an Australian advertiser already verified at home that runs financial ads into the US or Canada should expect to verify separately for each country once Google opens the process ahead of the rollout planned for early 2027.

What applies everywhere is the base policy. Google requires compliance with the regulations of any location an ad targets, including locally mandated disclosures, and expects advertisers to research those rules themselves. If your landing pages for finance products are missing a physical address, a fee schedule or a representative loan example, that is a policy gap today regardless of where the verification program stands.

What is still unclear

Google has not published an enforcement date in either country, only that the rollout is planned for early 2027. It has not said which non-bank categories will be verified through which registries, how long verification will take, or whether the American Bankers Association registry extends to credit unions and non-bank lenders. The Canadian process is described only as engagement with the Canadian Bankers Association at this stage.

What to do this week

None of this requires action inside the Google Ads interface for US or Canadian targeting yet. The preparation is administrative.

• List every country in your campaign location targeting and identify the financial regulator or registry that covers your product in each one. In Australia, confirm your Financial Services Verification certificate is in place and that the business details you gave during verification exactly match ASIC's registries or records, as Google's Australian verification page requires. Each new market needs its own verification; in the US and Canada it will be the registries Google names ahead of the early 2027 rollout.
• Audit financial landing pages against Google's disclosure policy: physical address, all fees, accreditation links, and the three loan disclosures if you advertise personal loans.
• Confirm that identity verification is already complete on your account. Google describes it as the first line of defence, and financial verification sits on top of it.
• Make sure the person who receives Google Ads policy notifications will act on them. Google will tell advertisers when they need to verify, and a verification notice or a policy warning is easy to miss in a shared inbox.
• Protect the account itself. If verification is missed once enforcement starts, financial ads may stop serving, and our audit of paused Google Ads campaigns explains why an established account with years of conversion history is worth keeping rather than rebuilding from scratch. Suspension is a separate risk: policy violations can lead to it after a warning of at least seven days, and false information in a verification application can lead to immediate revocation and possible suspension. That is the outcome that puts years of conversion history on the line.

Finance advertisers already have other 2027 changes in Google Ads on the calendar, including the February change to Search campaigns that run with Display, which follows the new channel priority tiers. Lenders and brokers that collect enquiries through lead form assets can use the new qualifying answers to mark which submissions count as qualified leads while the paperwork is sorted. Put the verification deadline on the same calendar.

The sensible next step is a one-page compliance file per market: the regulator, your licence or registration number, the registry Google is likely to use, and the person responsible. When Google's country guidance arrives, you will be ready to submit.