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Guide · Privacy

A Digital Budget Book With Privacy: Spending From Receipts Instead of Bank Access

Updated · 5 min read

A digital budget book without a bank connection records your spending from receipts instead of from your bank account: the app only sees the purchases you scan yourself – but every single item rather than just the total. It is only privacy-friendly, though, if the provider is open about where photos, texts and AI requests are processed.

Bank connection or receipt – what is the difference?

Budgeting apps with a bank connection (in Germany usually called a "Haushaltsbuch", a household budget book) read your account transactions. That is convenient because everything arrives automatically – rent, insurance and subscriptions included. In return, the app gets access to your transactions, and for a shopping trip it only sees "REWE, €63.40".

A budget book built from receipts works the other way round:

Bank connectionReceipts
Data sourceAccount transactionsReceipts you scan or upload yourself
Level of detailMerchant and totalEvery item line with price and category
Fixed costs (rent, electricity)automaticonly if you capture a document
Cash paymentsnot visiblevisible if you scan the receipt
Effortlow after setupone scan per shop
What the app knows about youall account movementsonly the receipts you give it

Both have their place. If you want a complete overview of all your finances, a bank connection serves you better. If you want to know where your grocery money really goes and do not want to hand out account access, receipts are the better fit.

What can a budget book built from receipts analyse?

Because every line is captured, you can answer questions a bank statement cannot: how much do I spend on sweets? Which shop is cheapest for butter? What has become more expensive since January?

In Bonstructer you see statistics by category, by shop and by weekday, month versus month. You can also ask in chat, for example "What did I spend at Edeka this month?". Answers are written by an AI based on your receipts and can be wrong; you can check tables and totals in the notebook. If you shop as a couple or in a flat share, you share one notebook – everyone scans, everyone sees the same.

Where does your data go with Bonstructer?

Privacy starts with precise statements. Here is how it works at Bonstructer:

You sign in with Google, email or passkey. The full details are in the privacy policy and in the frequently asked questions.

Can you delete your data again?

Yes. You delete individual receipts in the notebook. You delete your account and data at any time under "Delete account": the account is deactivated first, and the data is deleted after three days. If you want to keep something first, you can email individual receipts with the photo and lines, or save their items as a CSV table.

What should you look for in a budgeting app with good privacy?

With Bonstructer: basic use is free, with no subscription. Some extra and AI features as well as more storage use credits (AIC); the app shows the price beforehand. How other receipt apps handle this is covered in the guide Looking for a Bonsy alternative?. How long you should keep receipts in the first place is explained in How long to keep receipts in Germany.

Sources

FAQ

Is there a budget app without a bank connection?

Yes. Receipt apps like Bonstructer record spending from the receipts you scan instead of from your bank account. You grant no account access, but you only see the purchases you capture yourself.

Is all Bonstructer data stored in Germany?

App servers and receipt originals are in Google Cloud in Frankfurt. Text recognition and chat run through Google Cloud AI services (Vertex AI) with no data retention by Google; that processing may take place outside the EU. LlamaParse (EU endpoint) reads receipts only in exceptional cases when we switch it on manually.

Are my receipts used for advertising?

No. Ads are off by default, receipts, chat and account data are not used for ads, and we do not sell data. Optionally you can turn on videos in the Android app to earn credits.

How do I delete my account?

In the app under Delete account. The account is deactivated first, and the data is deleted after three days. You can delete individual receipts in the notebook at any time.

Guide · Thermal paper Faded Receipt: What to Do and How to Prove a Purchase Why thermal-paper receipts fade, what you can still save, and how to prove a purchase without a readable receipt. Guide · Scanning How to Scan a Receipt: Tips for Crumpled, Faded and Long Receipts With good light, a flat receipt and the right format, an app can read even difficult receipts cleanly. Guide · Comparison Looking for a Bonsy Alternative? Receipt Apps in Germany Compared Bonstructer, Bonsy, epap and wunderbon side by side – and what Bonstructer adds with chat, price check and a shared notebook. Guide · Web app Receipt App in the Browser: Scan Receipts Without Downloading Anything (PWA for iPhone and Android) What a PWA is, how to add one to your iPhone or Android home screen, and what to look for in a receipt scanner that runs on the web. Guide · Retention How Long Should You Keep Receipts in Germany? Private, Warranty and Tax No duty for private buyers, but good reasons to keep receipts for two years or more – and different rules for the self-employed. Guide · Digital receipts Digital receipts in Germany (eBon): how to get them and collect them in one place Where German supermarkets offer digital receipts, where they end up, and how to keep eBons from every shop in one searchable archive. Guide · Taxes Sending receipts to your tax advisor in Germany: which ones count and how Which receipts matter for your German tax return, why craftsmen's invoices need a bank transfer, and how to email a receipt to your advisor. Guide · Shopping planning Shopping list from receipts: build one from what you actually buy Your receipts show what you buy again and again. Turn them into a shopping list by hand or in chat, including Bring! export. Guide · Offers & prices Supermarket flyers vs. a price check on your own receipts What flyer apps do well, what they cannot know about your shopping, and how a price check on your own receipts complements them. Guide · Cooking & leftovers What should I cook today? Recipe ideas from your groceries How to turn what is already in your fridge into dinner, waste less food and let your receipts help you decide. Guide · Budgeting How to keep a household budget without typing in every purchase Paper, Excel, bank sync or scanning receipts: what each method does and how to analyse spending without retyping. Guide · Flatmates & Couples How to split a receipt with flatmates, a partner or friends Per item, equal split or shared basics: which method is fair when, and how to split a receipt in a few taps. Guide · Warranty & guarantee Warranty vs guarantee in Germany: how to prove you bought it Legal warranty is your right against the seller, a guarantee is a voluntary promise. What each means and how to prove the purchase.