Manage merchant names and category rules
Choose how future purchases from a merchant are named and categorized without rewriting past expenses.
Open Settings → Rules for merchant-to-category rules. Name choices in bank-alert review are separate from category rules. Changes affect future records, not expenses already saved.
Remember merchant categories and names
Video walkthrough · 1:16
Read the video transcript
In Settings, open Rules to see the merchant categories your household has saved. These rules are available on Pro and Family, with the appropriate household access.
Create a rule for Fresh Mart. Enter the merchant pattern, choose Groceries, then save. The pattern ignores differences in case, punctuation, and extra spaces.
The rule now appears in your list. It applies to future statement approvals and receipt confirmations. It does not rewrite purchases you already recorded.
A forwarded alert can use a different merchant spelling. In this sample alert, choose the vendor name you already use, then check the category. Leave Auto-add off for this example before adding the expense.
The purchase is saved under Fresh Mart. Your chosen name is remembered for matching future bank alerts. Category rules and merchant names are separate choices, and you can still review each purchase.
Demonstration uses fictional household data. Narration uses an AI-generated voice.
Before you start
Rules are available on Pro and Family with permitted household access. Viewers cannot edit rules; restricted members may not be able to read them. Use an active category rather than Uncategorized.
Set a category rule
- Open Settings → Rules. Search for the merchant before adding another rule.
- Choose New rule or Create your first rule, enter the merchant pattern and choose a category. Case, punctuation and extra spaces are ignored when matching.
- Select Create rule. Use a rule’s edit or delete action to change future categorization. To change the merchant pattern itself, create a different rule.
Other places to manage rules
An expense’s actions menu on Spending can offer a category-rule shortcut. A vendor’s Bills tab can offer Create rule or Edit rule. Checking Use this category next time during statement review also creates a rule. Editing or deleting a rule leaves existing expenses as recorded.
Choose a familiar merchant name
In a forwarded bank alert’s review, Match it to a vendor you already use offers familiar names alongside Keep as written. Review that choice before adding the expense. A confirmed familiar-name choice can be remembered for later alerts; it does not rename old purchases. Correct an existing purchase with its expense editor.
Category memory is separate from auto-add
A category rule does not by itself approve purchases. Auto-add alerts is offered only for a merchant already trusted from a reviewed bank alert. Turn it off in Settings → Rules to make later alerts wait for review. Use Undo separately for an expense already auto-added.