anybill Developer Documentation

# Architecture and Data Flow

The diagram below gives a high-level overview of how the anybill platform is structured and how receipt data flows between the point of sale, anybill's backend services, the customer, and connected third parties.

anybill architecture and data flow diagram showing receipt data flowing from the Merchant POS through anybill's services to the customer and third-party systems

Click the diagram to enlarge.

# Participants

The diagram is organised into five zones that represent the different actors and systems involved in a digital receipt journey.

# Merchant POS

The point of sale is where every receipt is born. Modern cash registers as well as legacy POS systems transmit receipt data — and, if available, a receipt URL — to the anybill backend via the Vendor API or through one of the Vendor API SDKs.

# anybill

anybill is the central platform that receives, stores, enriches, and distributes receipt data. Its core building blocks are:

  • Vendor API — receives receipt data from POS systems.
  • App API — serves customer-facing applications, authenticated via an auth token.
  • Partner Platform API — exposes configuration, basic analytics, and receipt data to partners (see Partner Platform API).
  • Receipt Data Storage — the secure, encrypted store for all receipts (see Security and Data Privacy).
  • Purchase Intelligence — aggregates analytics data derived from receipts.
  • Webhook Service — pushes and serves receipt data to connected third parties (see Webhooks).

# Known Customer, Merchant App, Merchant CRM

Customers who are already known to the merchant — for example because they use the merchant's app or are part of the merchant's CRM — receive their receipts directly in the merchant's frontend. Integration is done through the anybill Frontend SDKs (Android, iOS, Flutter, React Native, Web), which authenticate against anybill using an auth token and fetch customer receipts from the App API in real time.

# Unknown Customer

Walk-in customers without a prior relationship to the merchant can still receive a digital receipt. The cash register or customer display shows a QR code that links to the anybill receipt retrieval website (opens new window). The customer scans the QR code with the standard smartphone camera — no app install required — and can then download the receipt as a PDF, send it by email, add it to a wallet, or pick it up inside an existing merchant app.

# Third Party, Loyalty, Retail Media

Connected third parties — such as loyalty programs, retail media networks, or analytics vendors — consume receipt data through the anybill Webhook Service. Receipt data is either pushed to a registered endpoint or pulled by the third party on demand. See Webhooks for the available events and payloads.

# Typical Data Flow

A typical transaction moves through the platform in the following order:

  1. The Merchant POS transmits receipt data (and, where supported, a receipt URL) to the anybill Vendor API.
  2. anybill stores the receipt securely in the Receipt Data Storage.
  3. Depending on how the customer is identified, the receipt is delivered via one of three paths:
    • Known customer — the merchant's app or website fetches the receipt from the App API using the Frontend SDK.
    • Unknown customer — the customer scans a QR code on the customer display and retrieves the receipt from the anybill retrieval website.
    • Connected payment method — anybill matches payment information provided by a PSP/acquirer with the receipt data and delivers the receipt automatically.
  4. In parallel, relevant receipt data can be optionally forwarded to third-party systems via the Webhook Service.

# Where to go next

Security and Data Privacy →