Challenge
Splitting expenses among friends is a timeless pain point. Whether it’s dinners, grocery runs, or road trips, someone always ends up chasing payments. The client came to us with a vision:
- Build a mobile-first solution that removes the awkwardness of “you owe me.”
- Enable users*to simply scan receipts, divide items fairly, and send reminders directly through their favorite messengers.
- Launch a high-quality MVP in record time to validate market demand.
Our Approach
We owned the entire journey from concept to App Store launch in just 6 weeks.
Product & Design
Creating an intuitive user experience with distinctive visual identity
- Developed a special neorealism design language, balancing playfulness with clarity
- Crafted user flows that emphasized simplicity snap, split, share
- Built in multilingual support from the start—8 languages at launch—to make the product globally ready
Development & Stack
Building a robust, scalable foundation for rapid growth
- Chose React Native for cross-platform mobile development, ensuring iOS and Android releases from one codebase
- Used Firebase for real-time database, authentication, and cloud functions to keep infrastructure lightweight and scalable
- Integrated Astro for the marketing website, ensuring fast performance and easy localization
- Accelerated delivery by incorporating modern AI coding agents and development tools, significantly reducing implementation time and eliminating repetitive coding tasks
AI & OCR Intelligence
Smart receipt processing optimized for cost and accuracy
- Combined Together.AI and Azure Document Intelligence, with dynamic LLM model switching to optimize accuracy for different types of receipts
- Conducted an in-depth LLM pricing analysis that reduced AI operational costs by 10x—without any compromise in OCR quality or system performance
Solution
In just six weeks, we delivered PayBack — a fast, scalable, and globally ready expense-splitting experience. Optimized AI workflows reduced OCR processing costs by 10x, and launching both the app and website in eight languages ensured immediate international reach. The neorealism-inspired design added personality and clarity, making the product not only efficient but genuinely enjoyable to use.
PayBack empowers users to:
- Add a receipt – Snap or upload a photo; OCR instantly extracts all line items.
- Add friends – Invite group members to join the split.
- Split the list – Assign items to individuals and adjust as needed.
- Share the debt – Send a playful reminder (with custom images) via popular messengers.
Why It Matters
This case demonstrates how an idea can be turned into a polished, AI-powered MVP in weeks, not months—without burning a hole in the budget. It’s proof that with the right mix of design, technology, AI coding agents, and intelligent cost optimization, even complex workflows like OCR and expense management can be made user-friendly and market-ready.
Explore PayBack
Experience the live application and see how we made bill splitting effortless.