How Google Pay users received unexpected cash credits up to Rs 80,000 due to a glitch

Google Pay users received up to Rs 80,000 in rewards due to a glitch. (Representational)

Google Pay users were in for a rare surprise when a technical glitch caused the app to credit extra money to their accounts. Several internet users reported receiving additional funds, with the transactions ranging from USD 10 to USD 1,000 (approximately ₹80,000).

However, the excitement among these Google Pay users was short-lived as the company soon detected the glitch and reversed the credited amounts wherever possible. However, in cases where users had already transferred or spent the extra funds, Google declared that the money belonged to the users and no further action was required.

Mishaal Rahman, a journalist, took to Twitter to share his experience with the Google Pay glitch. He expressed surprise as he noticed that he had received $46 in "rewards" for "dogfooding the Google Pay Remittance experience" when he opened the app. He also mentioned that it appeared like Google Pay was randomly giving away free money to users.

The term "dogfooding" refers to when a company's employees test a new feature or service before making it available to the public. This suggests that Google accidentally sent out cash to random users for "testing" Google Pay features instead of paying their employees who actually tested them.

Uhhh, Google Pay seems to just be randomly giving users free money right now. I just opened Google Pay and saw that I have $46 in "rewards" that I got "for dogfooding the Google Pay Remittance experience." What. pic.twitter.com/Epe08Tpsk2

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— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) April 5, 2023

Rahman also provided guidance on how to check if other users had received the same "rewards" as him. He advised users to open the Google Pay app, swipe to the "Deals" tab, and look for any "rewards" listed at the top of the screen. He also suspected that the extra funds were an error and joked that the money would just sit in his account for the time being.

Rahman also shared an email he received from the company in another tweet, which acknowledged the error and stated that payments were being reversed in some cases.

The email reads, "You received this email because an unintended cash credit was deposited to your Google Pay account. The issue has since been resolved and where possible, the credit has been reversed." It can be assumed that those who left the money in their Google Pay account had the credited amount removed. However, for those who spent or transferred the money, Google stated, "If we were not able to reverse the credit, the money is yours to keep. No further action is necessary."

Several Reddit users also shared their experiences with the Google Pay glitch. One user reported receiving an incredible $1072 credited to their account, while another user mentioned receiving $240. The reports of extra credits and rewards had spread quickly among Google Pay users, leading to many checking their accounts in hopes of receiving the same.

Even Elon Musk chimed in on the incident, responding to a news report with the word "Noice" on Twitter.