What a connected bank imports

A connected bank sends Tavala the transactions and balances of the accounts you chose when you connected it. The first import goes back as far as your bank allows, up to 730 days (about two years), and new transactions arrive after that without you typing anything.

What arrives

• Transactions from each account you switched on, as entries in the wallet that account feeds. You can see the amount, date, merchant and a category.
• Balances. Tavala refreshes the bank's balance on every sync. A bank wallet can show a line such as "Bank says" with the figure, or "Matches the bank", so you can compare it with your own entries. See update a balance that does not match.
• Checking and savings accounts become spending wallets. Cards and loans become debt wallets by default, so they appear as what you owe. See wallet types.
• Investment accounts are tracked by balance only: the wallet reads "Tracks the balance only - its value follows your bank daily." Tavala does not import holdings or trades.
• Rates and due dates for cards and loans, in the United States and Canada, come with a second consent. A card can show "Get rates and due dates from your bank" with a Get rates button.
• An account in a currency Tavala does not support yet shows "Tavala doesn't support this currency yet." and is not imported.

When new transactions arrive

Your bank tells Tavala when it has new activity, and Tavala also checks on a schedule. On SettingsMoneyConnected accounts, each card says when it last synced, such as "Synced 5m ago". Tap the card and choose Refresh now to check at once.

On Home, the Activity tab shows a strip such as "3 transactions imported from your bank" after new rows arrive. Tap Got it to dismiss it.

How an imported entry looks

• A small Auto tag marks an entry that came from the bank.
• A Pending tag marks a hold the bank has not settled. Its amount is shown with a "~" and in a lighter colour, because the bank may still change it.
• The entry's details say "Status: Pending at the bank" and "Source: Imported from your bank".
• A day's total can read "incl. €4.80 pending", and the Money out sheet on Home can say that it includes an amount "pending - the bank may still change it".

When the bank posts the entry, the pending row becomes the posted one. It keeps the category and the trip or project you gave it.

What you can edit

The amount, the date and the wallet are bank facts. In the editor, a note reads "From your bank: amount, date and wallet are set. The category is yours." and the keypad is not there. You can change the category, the note, and the trip or project (where those apply). Your category stays when the bank later updates the entry.

Duplicates, transfers and loan payments

Tavala never deletes a bank entry by itself. It shows a strip and lets you decide:

• Possible duplicate. An imported entry that looks like one you typed shows "Possible duplicate - Merge keeps the bank’s record, with your category and note". Tap Merge or Keep both. After a merge, Undo brings the entry back.
• Looks like a transfer. An entry that matches a movement between two of your wallets shows "Looks like a transfer to" or "from" that wallet. A cash withdrawal shows "Cash withdrawal? Move it to" your cash wallet. Tap Move to file it as a transfer, which counts once and is not spending or income, or Not a transfer to keep it as it is.
• Looks like a loan payment. An entry that matches a debt wallet shows "Looks like a loan payment" with Review and Not a loan.

Good to know

• Nothing you typed is overwritten. Imported rows sit beside your own entries, also when an account is mapped to a wallet you already had.
• An account the bank stops sharing stops importing. Its past entries stay. The card says "Your bank stopped sharing" the account, with a Share again button. See fix a bank connection.
• Switching an account off on the Choose accounts screen stops it importing: "Stops importing. Its past entries stay."
• How far back depends on the bank. Tavala asks for up to 730 days; some banks return less.
• A pending amount can change when the bank posts the entry.
• Plus ending ends the connection and keeps the entries: the card says "Ended with Plus. Its transactions stay."