Some 3 days after the inaccurate United States Dollar (USD) to Malaysian Ringgit (RM) exchange rate published by Google Finance on Friday (15 March) went viral, the company has finally issued a statement on the matter.
Addressing the issue which has caused confusion among Malaysians over RM’s value, Google Malaysia took to its official X (formerly Twitter) account to reply to the Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) statement calling out the company for the erroneous exchange rate of USD1 = RM4.98.
Ada data kadar pertukaran ringgit tidak tepat yang tersebar melalui media sosial berdasarkan data yang salah diterbitkan oleh Google pada 15 Mac 2024. Baca kenyataan akhbar kami di sini https://t.co/GI8cTg4V5n#SiaranAkhbarBNM pic.twitter.com/TqfQzNnJO3
— Bank Negara Malaysia (@BNM_official) March 16, 2024
Google Malaysia apologises for any confusion caused by the error
In the X post, Google Malaysia thanked BNM for bringing the inaccurate currency conversion rate to its attention.
The company added that it immediately took action by contacting the 3rd party that provides USD to RM exchange rate to rectify the error.
Google Malaysia then assured that the issue has since been resolved and apologised for any confusion caused due to the publishing of the inaccurate exchange rate.
Yesterday, users in Malaysia reported that they couldn’t access the built-in currency converter on Google Finance and Google Home page if they searched for exchange rates involving the RM.
It is unknown whether this was part of Google Malaysia’s initiative to rectify to the issue. Regardless, the currency converter is now up and running as normal.
The currency exchange rates on Google Finance is just for informational purposes
Besides that, Google Malaysia also clarified that the currency exchange rates on Google Finance are for informational purposes only.
The company then told Malaysians that they should consult official sources such as BNM for making any financial decisions.
Google Malaysia also linked to the Google Finance Disclaimer page to clarify any confusions that may arise from the service.
You can read more about the disclaimer, including how Google sourced data from third parties and doesn’t verify the finance data in our previous article on the matter here.
In the disclaimer, the company also doesn’t guarantee accuracy of exchange rates and disclaims any obligations to do so.
For illustration purposes
Following this statement, it is unknown whether BNM and the Federal Government will continue to probe Google for further explanation on the erroneous exchange rates.
Well, for the latest updates on this and other engaging social stories, stay tuned to WORLD OF BUZZ!
