Privacy policy

Last updated: 30 October 2026

Pay Up is an app for splitting expenses with friends. It's run by Sam Pham, in Singapore (“we”). This page explains what we collect, why, who can see it, how long we keep it, and what you can do about it. We follow Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA).

The short version: we collect only what the app needs to work, and we never sell your data. There's currently no advertising or tracking in the app.

What we collect

  • Your account: your email address, username and password. The password is stored only in a scrambled form that can't be turned back into it.
  • Your names: your display name, and any name you choose to use in a particular group.
  • Your groups: group names, currencies, invite codes, who is in each group, and who is an admin or owner.
  • Expenses and payments: what you and your group members record — descriptions, amounts, dates, who paid, how it was split, and who recorded it.
  • Notifications the app sends you, including reminders to pay, and your notification settings.
  • Reminders: when you remind someone to pay, we record who reminded whom, in which group, for how much, and when. We use this to show the reminder and to limit reminders to one per person per day.
  • Push notification tokens: if you allow notifications on your phone, we store a token for that phone (an address our notifications are sent to) and whether it's Android or iPhone. It isn't linked to your phone number or anything else about the phone.
  • Feedback you send us: “Send feedback” in the app starts an email to us that includes the app version, your phone's model and system version, and your username. You see all of it before you send it, and can remove any of it.
  • Error reports: when something goes wrong in the app, it sends us a report of the error: where in the app's code it happened, the app version, and your phone's model and system version. Reports don't include your name, username, email address, network address, or what's on your screen.
  • Name checks: when you set a username, a display name or a group name, it's checked against a list of words that aren't allowed and by an AI system (see Anthropic below), which sees only the name. We keep the result for that name, not linked to you. A name that needs a closer look is kept, with who set it, until we've looked at it.
  • Reports: if you report a name, we keep who reported it, whose name it is and in which group, the name, your reason and anything you wrote, and what was decided (by our AI, or by us).
  • Security records: to stop people guessing passwords, reset codes or invite codes, we note failed attempts (the username or email tried, or the network address used, and the time). These are deleted after one day. Our database provider also keeps short-lived technical logs, such as network addresses, to keep the service running and secure.

On your phone: the app keeps your sign-in session (encrypted), and a copy of your name, username and balances, so it opens quickly. These are removed when you sign out. It also remembers your theme and whether you've seen the welcome guide.

We don't collect your location, contacts, photos or payment card details. Pay Up doesn't move money: it only keeps a record of what people say they paid. There's currently no advertising or analytics code in the app: error reports are only used to fix bugs. If we add ads or paid features, we'll update this policy and tell you in the app before they start.

Why we use it

  • To run your account and sign you in, including sending sign-up and password-reset codes by email.
  • To show you and your groups who owes whom, and to send you the notifications you've chosen, in the app and as push notifications on your phone.
  • To answer feedback, and to find and fix problems in the app.
  • To keep accounts and groups safe from misuse.

We don't use your data for anything else, and we don't sell or rent it to anyone.

Who can see it

  • People in your groups see your username, your display name (or the name you use in that group), and the expenses and payments in groups you share. They don't see your email address.
  • Someone you remind sees that you reminded them, and how much the app says they owe you.
  • Push notifications show the group's name and what happened (for example, who added an expense and the amount). Like any notification, they can appear on your phone's lock screen; you can turn them off in your phone's settings.
  • Someone you report isn't told that you reported them. If we change their name, they're told why, not by whom.
  • Nobody else using Pay Up can see your groups or your money.
  • Our service providers handle data only so the app can work:
    • Supabase: our database and sign-in service. Your data is stored on its servers in Singapore.
    • Resend: sends our emails (your email address and the code).
    • Expo: delivers app updates and push notifications to your phone (the phone's token and the notification's text).
    • Google (Firebase Cloud Messaging) and, on iPhone, Apple: carry push notifications to your phone, as they do for every app.
    • Sentry: receives the app's error reports.
    • Anthropic: its AI (Claude) checks names as they're set, and reads reports (the name and the reason given, not your note), to keep offensive names out of Pay Up.
    • Cloudflare: hosts payupapp.app and forwards email sent to us.
    • Google Fonts: supplies the font on payupapp.app (Google sees your network address when your browser loads it).
    Some of them handle data outside Singapore. We only use providers that protect it to a standard comparable to the PDPA.
  • We'll share data with authorities only where the law requires it.

How long we keep it

  • Your account, for as long as you have it.
  • Failed sign-in, reset-code and invite-code attempts: one day.
  • A phone's push notification token: until you sign out on that phone or delete your account.
  • Error reports: up to 90 days.
  • Feedback emails: for as long as we need them to deal with what you raised.
  • Reports, and names held for a closer look: for as long as we need them to keep Pay Up safe. They're deleted with the account of the person who made the report or whose name it is.
  • A deleted group is hidden from everyone straight away, and erased for good 30 days later, with all its expenses, payments and notifications.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account in the app (Profile → Settings → Delete account), or by emailing us — see Delete your account. Your login, email address, password and username are deleted, along with your notifications, your phones' push notification tokens and your profile name.

Expenses and payments you shared with other people stay in their groups, shown as “Deleted User”, because they're part of other people's records of who owes whom. In a group where you still owe or are owed money, your name in that group stays with “(deleted)” added, so the others know who the balance was with.

Keeping it safe

Data is encrypted on its way between the app and our servers, and our database provider encrypts it where it's stored. Each person can only reach their own data and their own groups' data, and the database itself enforces this. Repeated failed attempts at passwords, reset codes and invite codes are limited.

Your rights

Under the PDPA you can ask us:

  • what personal data we hold about you, and how it has been used;
  • to correct it if it's wrong;
  • to stop using it, which means deleting your account, since the app can't work without it.

Email [email protected] from the address on your account. We'll reply within 30 days. Sam Pham is our data protection officer and reads that address.

Children

Pay Up isn't meant for children under 13. If you think a child has made an account, email us and we'll delete it.

Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update this page and the date at the top. If a change affects how your data is used, we'll also tell you in the app.

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