Connect a bank account.
Linking a bank is what turns Spense from a notebook into an autopilot: your transactions arrive on their own and get categorized for you.
Open Accounts and tap Add
On the Accounts tab, tap the Add button at the top of the screen. A sheet titled Add Account slides up — choose Connect Bank Account. (Brand new and still on the Home tab? The welcome card's Link your bank button lands in the same place.)
Sign in through Plaid
Pick your bank and sign in on Plaid's secure screens — Plaid is the connection service used by major finance apps, and your bank password stays with it; Spense never sees it. If your bank asks for a verification code, that happens right in the same flow.
Choose what happens to your manual accounts
This one only appears on your first bank link, and only if you already track accounts by hand. A dialog titled Bank connected! asks what to do with them:
- Keep my accounts — the bank joins what you've built; manual accounts and their transactions stay.
- Start fresh — manual accounts and their transactions are removed, and the linked bank becomes your clean slate.
No manual accounts? You'll never see this question.
Let the first sync land
Spense shows “Pulling 30 days of history…” while your recent transactions stream in — usually under a minute. You can close it and keep using the app; the sync finishes in the background and new rows simply appear on the Spending tab.
Wondering whether linking a bank to a budget app is safe in the first place? We wrote an honest answer on the blog.