Users of Google Pay have been receiving unexpected cash deposits of up to $1,000 in their app accounts, without any clear explanation. It’s a stroke of luck for those who use the payment service. While there’s no such thing as a free lunch, this free money is a welcome surprise.
The confusion began on Tuesday when Google Pay users took to social media to express their bewilderment at the sudden influx of cash.
“Uhhh, Google Pay seems to just be randomly giving users free money right now,” tweeted Mishaal Rahman, a tech journalist, attaching a screenshot of the errant couple buckets he received.
“I just got almost $100 in six different cashback rewards for ‘dogfooding the Google pay remittance experience,”” wrote one user. “What does this mean?” they asked.
The real reason behind all this according to Ars Technica, is that Google Pay has made an error with its “reward” program, which is similar to other loyalty schemes that offer discounts or occasional cashback for regular usage of a service. However, in this case, the cash rewards were intended for employees who “dogfooded” the product, meaning they used it to test it before its official release.
Somehow, these payments intended for employees were sent to numerous random Google Pay users. Google later sent an email to the bewildered recipients, attributing the mistake to an “error.”
“You received this email because an unintended cash credit was deposited to your Google Pay account,” the company wrote, as quoted by Ars. “The issue has since been resolved and where possible, the credit has been reversed.”
The amount has been reversed from users that left money in their accounts but for the people who were eager to cash out the credited amount right away, Google has said, “Well played” – you earned it buddy.
