People and Circles

Your personal QR code

Updated August 21st, 202629 views

Every account has a personal code — My QR code — that connects one person to you directly.

Show it, they scan it, you are connected. No email address, no invitation to accept, no Circle to create.

When to use it

This is the fastest way to connect with one person who is standing in front of you.

  • Meeting someone who will be splitting things with you regularly.

  • Someone asks to be added and you would rather not type their email.

  • You want them to have you in their app, rather than you tracking them privately.

For several people at once, use a Circle instead — that connects everyone to everyone in one scan each. For someone who is not present, an email invitation works better.

How it differs from a Circle code

They look similar and do different jobs:

Personal QR code

Circle QR code

Connects you to

One person

Everyone in the Circle

Lifetime

Stable until you reset it

Expires after 24 hours

Best for

One-to-one

Groups

The important difference is lifetime. A Circle join link is deliberately short-lived. Your personal code is stable — it keeps working until you reset it.

Sharing it

Open My QR code and show the screen, or send the link.

The person opening it sees your display name and a prompt to connect. They need a HiBill account, and are asked to sign in first if they are not already.

Reset link issues a fresh code and immediately kills the old one. Anyone holding the previous link gets a "this link is no longer active" message.

Reset when:

  • You shared the code somewhere public and would rather it stopped working.

  • It has been forwarded beyond the people you intended.

  • You just want a clean slate.

Resetting does not affect anyone you are already connected to. Existing relationships and balances are untouched — it only stops future connections through the old link.

Because it is stable, treat it as semi-public

Unlike a Circle link, this one does not expire on its own. Anyone who has it can connect to you until you reset it.

That is the point — it is meant to be reusable — but it does mean a code posted in a public place stays usable. If you are not sure who has it, reset it.

Already connected

If someone scans your code when you are already connected, HiBill says so and nothing is duplicated. You cannot end up with two connections to the same person this way.