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Why hasn't anyone built a receipt tracker app to verify restaurant tips?

I’ve been thinking about a simple idea: a mobile app that lets you scan your restaurant receipt via OCR, then matches the scanned total (including the tip you manually added) with the final charge pulled from your credit card data (using a service like Plaid). This app would flag any discrepancies between what you signed for and what eventually posts to your account—basically, a tool for ensuring you aren’t overcharged on tips, plus a handy digital archive for all your receipts.

Despite how many people deal with messy paper receipts and potential tip tampering, I haven’t seen anyone tackle this niche yet. I’m curious about what might be holding people back: • Technical challenges? Is OCR accuracy (especially with handwritten tips) a major roadblock? • Integration hurdles? Are there regulatory or security issues with linking bank/credit card data via services like Plaid for this purpose? • Market demand? Could it be that users don’t see the value or are hesitant to adopt a tool that monitors their transactions so closely?

I’d love to hear from anyone who has thought about this, tried building something similar, or has insights into why such an app hasn’t caught on. What are the hidden difficulties or limitations? Any feedback, experiences, or ideas are welcome!

Looking forward to your thoughts.

1 points brownieai 1 year ago 10 comments

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