Privately - Log Apple Pay purchases automatically
Tap to pay, and the expense is already in SpendCheck before you've put your phone away. Takes about three minutes to set up, once.
Your bank never talks to us — because there is no "us"
This uses Apple's own Shortcuts app, running entirely on your iPhone. You don't link a bank account, you don't hand over credentials, and no third party sits between you and your money. SpendCheck has no servers and no analytics; the expense is written straight to your phone's local storage, exactly as if you'd typed it yourself.
Before you start
- SpendCheck installed and opened at least once
- At least one card in Apple Wallet that you actually pay with
- The Shortcuts app (built into iOS — if you deleted it, reinstall it free from the App Store)
Set it up
Open Shortcuts and start a new automation
Open the Shortcuts app, tap Automation at the bottom, then tap + in the top corner.
Choose the trigger, and switch Automation on
Scroll the list of triggers and look for the one with a wallet icon — Apple has called it both Transaction and Wallet across different iOS versions, but you'll know it once selected: it reads "When any card is tapped."
Leave it set to Any Card to capture every Apple Pay purchase, or tap it to choose specific cards if you'd rather only track one. On this same screen, make sure Automation is on, and turn Notify off unless you want a banner every time it runs (fine to leave it on for the first day just to watch it work).
Leave Categories and Merchants unset — those filter which purchases trigger it, and you want all of them.
Make sure "Confirm Before Run" is off
This is the one that matters most: left on, iOS asks your permission after every single purchase, which defeats the point of automatic logging. Its exact placement has shifted a little across iOS versions — if you don't see it on the trigger screen above, tap the trigger's header to expand its full settings.
Add the Log Expense action
In the search box, type SpendCheck and choose Log Expense.
Map two fields — and leave the rest alone
Tap Amount and choose the Transaction variable. Tap Merchant and choose the Merchant variable. Apple Pay provides both automatically.
Save, then buy something small
Tap Done. Next time you tap to pay, open SpendCheck and the purchase should already be there.
The first entry at a new shop lands in Miscellaneous. Change it once, and every future purchase there uses your choice automatically.
What this does and doesn't do
Worth reading before you rely on it. We'd rather set expectations honestly than have you assume something's broken.
Apple Pay taps only
This captures purchases where you tap your iPhone or Apple Watch to pay. It does not capture swiping or inserting the physical card, online checkouts, subscriptions, recurring bills, bank transfers, or cash. Those still need to be added by hand — which takes a few seconds in the app.
It can occasionally miss one
The trigger depends on your card issuer reporting the transaction to Apple Wallet promptly. Developers have reported cases where a slow issuer causes the automation to time out and skip a purchase. It's uncommon, but it means this is a convenience feature, not an audit trail. Glance over your entries now and then.
Declined or cancelled payments may still log
Apple's trigger can fire on a tap that doesn't end up completing. SpendCheck detects and skips obvious duplicates — same amount, same merchant, within a few minutes — but a payment that fails and is retried differently may still leave an entry. Delete it like any other; swipe left, and you get an undo.
Refunds and returns aren't captured
Taking something back to the shop doesn't involve tapping your phone, so nothing gets logged when the money comes back. Add a refund by hand and set its type to Refund — SpendCheck subtracts it from your totals properly rather than treating it as another expense.
Gas stations are a special case
Fuel pumps usually authorise a placeholder amount before knowing your final total, then settle the real figure hours later. The logged amount may be that placeholder rather than what you actually paid. Worth correcting manually after you fill up.
Merchant names come from the card network
You'll sometimes see things like COSTCO WHSE #0669 SOUTHLAKE US rather than "Costco." Edit the name once and SpendCheck reuses your cleaner version for every future purchase there.
Shared cards log to whoever set this up
The automation runs on your iPhone and only sees taps made from your device's Wallet. A spouse's or partner's own phone tapping the same account won't appear here.
Everything stays on your phone
Apple Wallet hands the amount and merchant to Shortcuts, and Shortcuts hands them to SpendCheck. Nothing is transmitted anywhere, no account is created, and no analytics are collected. You can delete any entry, or all of them, at any time.
If it isn't working
| What you see | What to check |
|---|---|
| Nothing gets logged at all | Open Shortcuts → Automation and confirm the automation is switched on. iOS sometimes disables automations after a software update. |
| It asks permission every time | Confirm Before Run is still on. Open the automation and turn it off. |
| A banner appears and waits for a tap | Show When Run is on inside the Log Expense action. Turn it off. |
| Amount is blank or zero | The Amount field needs the Transaction variable, not typed text. Tap the field and pick it from the variable list. |
| Everything lands in Miscellaneous | That's expected at first. Correct the category once per merchant and it learns from there. |
| Some purchases appear, others don't | Almost certainly the non-Apple-Pay purchases — swipes, online orders, and subscriptions aren't covered. See above. |
Questions, or something behaving oddly? We'd genuinely like to hear about it.
Back to SpendCheckFree on the App Store · No account, ever · Privacy Policy
Privately - Log Apple Pay purchases automatically
Tap to pay, and the expense is already in SpendCheck before you've put your phone away. Takes about three minutes to set up, once.
Your bank never talks to us — because there is no "us"
This uses Apple's own Shortcuts app, running entirely on your iPhone. You don't link a bank account, you don't hand over credentials, and no third party sits between you and your money. SpendCheck has no servers and no analytics; the expense is written straight to your phone's local storage, exactly as if you'd typed it yourself.
Before you start
- SpendCheck installed and opened at least once
- At least one card in Apple Wallet that you actually pay with
- The Shortcuts app (built into iOS — if you deleted it, reinstall it free from the App Store)
Set it up
Open Shortcuts and start a new automation
Open the Shortcuts app, tap Automation at the bottom, then tap + in the top corner.
Choose the trigger, and switch Automation on
Scroll the list of triggers and look for the one with a wallet icon — Apple has called it both Transaction and Wallet across different iOS versions, but you'll know it once selected: it reads "When any card is tapped."
Leave it set to Any Card to capture every Apple Pay purchase, or tap it to choose specific cards if you'd rather only track one. On this same screen, make sure Automation is on, and turn Notify off unless you want a banner every time it runs (fine to leave it on for the first day just to watch it work).
Leave Categories and Merchants unset — those filter which purchases trigger it, and you want all of them.
Make sure "Confirm Before Run" is off
This is the one that matters most: left on, iOS asks your permission after every single purchase, which defeats the point of automatic logging. Its exact placement has shifted a little across iOS versions — if you don't see it on the trigger screen above, tap the trigger's header to expand its full settings.
Add the Log Expense action
In the search box, type SpendCheck and choose Log Expense.
Map two fields — and leave the rest alone
Tap Amount and choose the Transaction variable. Tap Merchant and choose the Merchant variable. Apple Pay provides both automatically.
Save, then buy something small
Tap Done. Next time you tap to pay, open SpendCheck and the purchase should already be there.
The first entry at a new shop lands in Miscellaneous. Change it once, and every future purchase there uses your choice automatically.
What this does and doesn't do
Worth reading before you rely on it. We'd rather set expectations honestly than have you assume something's broken.
Apple Pay taps only
This captures purchases where you tap your iPhone or Apple Watch to pay. It does not capture swiping or inserting the physical card, online checkouts, subscriptions, recurring bills, bank transfers, or cash. Those still need to be added by hand — which takes a few seconds in the app.
It can occasionally miss one
The trigger depends on your card issuer reporting the transaction to Apple Wallet promptly. Developers have reported cases where a slow issuer causes the automation to time out and skip a purchase. It's uncommon, but it means this is a convenience feature, not an audit trail. Glance over your entries now and then.
Declined or cancelled payments may still log
Apple's trigger can fire on a tap that doesn't end up completing. SpendCheck detects and skips obvious duplicates — same amount, same merchant, within a few minutes — but a payment that fails and is retried differently may still leave an entry. Delete it like any other; swipe left, and you get an undo.
Refunds and returns aren't captured
Taking something back to the shop doesn't involve tapping your phone, so nothing gets logged when the money comes back. Add a refund by hand and set its type to Refund — SpendCheck subtracts it from your totals properly rather than treating it as another expense.
Gas stations are a special case
Fuel pumps usually authorise a placeholder amount before knowing your final total, then settle the real figure hours later. The logged amount may be that placeholder rather than what you actually paid. Worth correcting manually after you fill up.
Merchant names come from the card network
You'll sometimes see things like COSTCO WHSE #0669 SOUTHLAKE US rather than "Costco." Edit the name once and SpendCheck reuses your cleaner version for every future purchase there.
Shared cards log to whoever set this up
The automation runs on your iPhone and only sees taps made from your device's Wallet. A spouse's or partner's own phone tapping the same account won't appear here.
Everything stays on your phone
Apple Wallet hands the amount and merchant to Shortcuts, and Shortcuts hands them to SpendCheck. Nothing is transmitted anywhere, no account is created, and no analytics are collected. You can delete any entry, or all of them, at any time.
If it isn't working
| What you see | What to check |
|---|---|
| Nothing gets logged at all | Open Shortcuts → Automation and confirm the automation is switched on. iOS sometimes disables automations after a software update. |
| It asks permission every time | Confirm Before Run is still on. Open the automation and turn it off. |
| A banner appears and waits for a tap | Show When Run is on inside the Log Expense action. Turn it off. |
| Amount is blank or zero | The Amount field needs the Transaction variable, not typed text. Tap the field and pick it from the variable list. |
| Everything lands in Miscellaneous | That's expected at first. Correct the category once per merchant and it learns from there. |
| Some purchases appear, others don't | Almost certainly the non-Apple-Pay purchases — swipes, online orders, and subscriptions aren't covered. See above. |
Questions, or something behaving oddly? We'd genuinely like to hear about it.
Back to SpendCheckFree on the App Store · No account, ever · Privacy Policy