Loyalty Register glossary
Receipt scanning
A way to earn loyalty rewards by photographing or uploading a purchase receipt, which the program reads and checks before posting points.
Receipt scanning is a way for members to earn loyalty rewards by photographing or uploading a purchase receipt. The program reads the receipt, usually with optical character recognition, checks that it is genuine and that the purchase qualifies, and then posts the points or cash back. Receipt scanning rewards let a program pay for purchases it cannot see at the checkout, which is why they are common in shopping apps and consumer brand programs.
Updated · By Loyalty Register Editorial TeamRelated terms
Who uses receipt scanning, and who pays for the rewards?
It is most common where the business that runs the program is not the one that rings up the sale. Receipt rewards apps accept receipts from many stores and fund rewards mainly from brands, which pay for offers on their products and for insight into what shoppers buy. Consumer goods brands run their own scanning programs to reward purchases in other retailers’ stores. Restaurants and retailers use it as a backup when a member forgot to identify at checkout, and B2B and trade programs use a similar process to validate distributor sales.
How does receipt scanning work?
The member takes a photo in the app or uploads a file, including e-receipts in some programs. The system extracts the store, date, total and, where possible, each item. It then applies the program’s rules: the receipt must be recent, from an eligible store, include qualifying products and not have been submitted before. Fetch, for example, allows one account per member and does not accept receipts for transactions older than 14 calendar days. Receipts that pass are credited automatically, and unclear ones go to manual review.
What are the risks and trade-offs?
Fraud is the main risk. Members may submit the same receipt twice, edit images, share receipts between accounts or collect receipts that are not theirs. Defenses include duplicate checks, image analysis, limits per account and review of unusual patterns; see loyalty fraud for the wider playbook. For members, scanning is an extra task, and many eligible purchases are never submitted. The program’s data then covers only part of what members buy, and lower costs from unsubmitted receipts should not be mistaken for a sign that the program works. Item-level receipt data is also personal information, so tell members what you collect and how it is used.
What should you check before using it?
Test how accurately the system reads receipts from your main retailers, including long receipts and abbreviated product names. Set a clear submission window and say how long a review takes. Measure how many members scan, how often scans are rejected and why, and how much manual review costs. Where you can, link the program to the point of sale or use a card or app at checkout instead, and keep receipt scanning for purchases that cannot be captured another way.