Terms of Service
Effective Date: November 7, 2026 · Last Updated: November 7, 2026
These are the rules for using IOU. The short version: IOU helps you work out who owes what, but it doesn't move money, so double-check amounts before you pay or ask to be paid, and be decent to the people you split with.
1. Acceptance of Terms
These Terms of Service ("Terms") are an agreement between you and Jillian Gallagher, doing business as IOU ("IOU", "we", "us" or "our"). They govern your use of the IOU mobile app, the website at useiou.com, and related services (together, the "Service").
By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and acknowledge our Privacy Policy, which explains how we handle your information. If you don't agree, don't use the Service.
1.1 Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. We'll post the new version here, update the "Last Updated" date, and tell you in the app about material changes before they take effect. Changes apply going forward. Material changes to Section 16 won't apply to a dispute either of us gave written notice of before the change. If you don't agree to updated Terms, stop using the Service; continuing to use it means you accept them, to the extent the law allows.
2. The Service
IOU lets you record shared expenses, such as receipts from dinners, bars and trips; split them between people, including tax and tip; let friends claim the items they had; and see who owes whom.
IOU doesn't process payments. It isn't a bank, money transmitter or payment service, and it doesn't hold, send or collect money. Any payment between you and your friends happens outside IOU, through a service you choose, under that service's terms.
We may change, improve, suspend or discontinue features of the Service for business, legal, security or technical reasons. Where reasonably possible, we'll give advance notice of changes that significantly reduce what the Service does.
3. Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years old to use the Service. The Service isn't intended for anyone under 18, and people under 18 may not create an account or use it. If we learn an account belongs to someone under 18, we may close it and delete its information. You may not use the Service where doing so would violate the law, and you confirm that the information you give us, including your phone number, is accurate and belongs to you.
4. Accounts, Security and Communications
You sign in with your phone number and a one-time code sent by text message, or with Sign in with Apple. You're responsible for keeping your phone and account secure and for activity on your account. Don't share, sell or transfer your account, or use more than one account to get around limits.
By signing in with your phone number, you agree to receive one-time sign-in codes by text message. These are the only texts IOU sends. Message and data rates from your carrier may apply.
Invite messages are sent by you, from your own phone and messaging apps, not by IOU. Only send invites to people who'd expect to hear from you.
You agree that we can give you notices electronically, in the app, by text or by email if you've given us one.
5. Your Content
"Your Content" means the events, receipts, items, amounts, claims, names, receipt photos and other information you add to the Service. You keep whatever rights you have in Your Content, and you're responsible for it.
You give IOU a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, process, copy and display Your Content, and to let our service providers do the same, only as needed to:
- provide, operate, secure and support the Service;
- read scanned receipts and calculate splits;
- show Your Content to the people you share it with, such as the members of your events; and
- prevent abuse, enforce these Terms and comply with the law.
This license doesn't give us ownership of Your Content, and we won't use it to advertise IOU without your permission. It lasts while Your Content is on the Service; after deletion, copies may remain briefly in backups. Receipts you add to an event shared with others stay part of that event for its other members, as described in our Privacy Policy.
6. Information About Other People
When you add friends by name or phone number, from your contacts or by typing them in, you confirm you're allowed to share that information with IOU so they can be included in your events. Don't add people to harass them, or add anyone who has asked you not to.
7. Calculations, Scanning and Disputes Between Friends
IOU reads receipts with automated tools, including AI, which can make mistakes, for example with blurry photos, handwriting or unusual receipts. Amounts can also be wrong if items are entered or claimed incorrectly. Review the items, amounts, tax, tip and totals before relying on them, and correct anything that's off.
Balances in IOU are a tool to help you and your friends settle up; they aren't a bill, invoice or legal debt created by IOU. IOU isn't a party to any arrangement between you and other users and isn't responsible for whether anyone pays, for disagreements about who owes what, or for payments made outside the Service.
8. Feedback
If you send us suggestions, ideas or bug reports ("Feedback"), you give IOU a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use it to improve and promote the Service, without payment or credit to you. Feedback doesn't include Your Content.
9. Acceptable Use
Use the Service only for its intended purpose: recording and splitting shared expenses with people you know. You may not:
- use the Service for anything unlawful, fraudulent or deceptive, including to falsely claim someone owes you money;
- harass, threaten or spam other people, including through invites;
- upload content that's unlawful, harmful or infringes someone else's rights;
- impersonate anyone, or sign in with a phone number that isn't yours;
- try to find out who uses IOU by adding phone numbers in bulk, or scrape, harvest or collect data from the Service;
- bypass security, access controls or rate limits, or probe or interfere with the Service;
- use bots, scripts or automated systems to access the Service;
- reverse engineer the Service, except where the law expressly allows it;
- introduce malware or harmful code; or
- help anyone else do any of these things.
10. Content Removal and Termination
We may restrict or remove content we reasonably believe violates these Terms or the law, or creates a legal or security risk.
10.1 By you
You can stop using the Service at any time and delete your account in the app (Home, then your picture, then Account, then Delete account). What deletion removes is described in our Privacy Policy.
10.2 By us
We may suspend or close an account for violating these Terms, unlawful activity, security risks or misuse of the Service. Where reasonable, we'll tell you why.
10.3 What survives
Sections that by their nature should continue after your account ends, including Sections 7, 8 and 12 through 17, will survive.
11. Paid Features and Apple
The Service is currently free. If we offer paid features in the future, the price and terms will be shown before you buy, and purchases in the iPhone app will be made through Apple and governed by Apple's terms.
If you get IOU from the Apple App Store: these Terms are between you and IOU, not Apple. Apple isn't responsible for the Service or its content, has no obligation to provide maintenance or support, and isn't responsible for any claims relating to the Service, including product liability, legal compliance or intellectual property claims. If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple for a refund of any purchase price, and Apple has no other warranty obligation. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you. You confirm you're not located in a country subject to a U.S. government embargo and aren't on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
12. Service Availability
We don't promise the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free or always available, or that your data can always be recovered. If something matters to you, keep your own record of it.
13. Disclaimer of Warranties
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available." We disclaim all warranties that can legally be disclaimed, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement, and any warranty that calculations, scanned results or balances are accurate.
14. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, IOU and its contractors, licensors and service providers won't be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost money, profits, data or opportunities, arising from or related to the Service, including amounts you paid or failed to collect because of a calculation or scanning error, even if we were told such damages were possible.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim arising from or related to these Terms or the Service won't exceed $100.
These limits don't apply to liability that can't legally be limited, including for fraud, gross negligence or willful misconduct.
15. Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless IOU and its contractors, licensors and service providers from third-party claims, losses and costs (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from Your Content, your violation of these Terms or the law, or your misuse of the Service. We'll give you prompt notice of any such claim. This doesn't apply to the extent a claim is caused by our own gross negligence, willful misconduct or violation of law.
16. Dispute Resolution
Please read this section carefully. It affects how disputes are resolved. Before filing any claim, please email support@useiou.com so we can try to resolve it informally; most issues can be.
16.1 Agreement to Arbitrate
Except as described below, you and IOU agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by JAMS under its Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures (available at jamsadr.com), rather than in court.
16.2 Class Action Waiver
Claims may be brought only individually, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, consolidated or representative proceeding. If this waiver is found unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim must be brought in court, and all other claims remain subject to arbitration.
16.3 Procedures
The arbitration will be held before a single arbitrator, in Connecticut, or by phone, video or written submissions where JAMS rules allow. Fees are governed by JAMS rules, including its consumer fee protections. The award may be entered as a judgment in any court with jurisdiction.
16.4 Exceptions
Either of us may bring an individual claim in small claims court, or seek an injunction in court to stop infringement or misuse of intellectual property.
16.5 Governing Law
This section is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act. Otherwise, these Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Connecticut, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Nothing in these Terms takes away consumer protection rights you have under the laws of where you live that can't be waived.
17. General Terms
17.1 Notices
We may give you notices in the app, by text or by email. Notices to IOU go to support@useiou.com.
17.2 Assignment
You may not transfer your account or these Terms without our permission. We may transfer these Terms if IOU is reorganized, for example into a company, or sold.
17.3 Events Beyond Our Control
We aren't liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control, such as outages of internet, phone or third-party services, natural disasters or government action.
17.4 Severability and Waiver
If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. Not enforcing a provision isn't a waiver of our right to enforce it later.
17.5 Entire Agreement
These Terms and our Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and IOU about the Service. They create no third-party beneficiary rights, except for Apple as described in Section 11. Headings are for convenience only, and "including" means "including without limitation."
18. Contact
Questions about these Terms: support@useiou.com