abacova — full course Lesson 15
Automatic expense capture with Apple Pay
Set up the abacova shortcut on your iPhone once, and every Apple Pay payment opens an expense already filled in for you to confirm. For cash, a double tap on the back of the phone.
Chapters
- Introduction
- Contents
- 1. What it records and what it doesn't · 1.1 The automatic capture screen
- 2. Set it up once · 2.1 Add the abacova shortcut
- 2.2 Switch on the automation
- 3. Everyday use · 3.1 A payment with Apple Pay
- 3.2 Confirm and save
- 3.3 Payments to confirm
- 4. Cash and payments to friends: Back Tap · 4.1 A new expense with two taps
- 5. Limits worth knowing · 5.1 The limits
What you'll be able to do
Typing in every expense is the hardest habit to keep. With automatic expense capture, every time you pay with Apple Pay on your iPhone, abacova opens with the amount, the merchant and the date already filled in, and all you do is confirm. You set it up once, in a couple of minutes, and you never hand your bank password to anyone.
You need an iPhone with iOS 27 or later. It isn't available on Android yet.
What it records and what it doesn't
The automatic capture screen
In the app, open More → Automatic expense capture. Card payments made with Apple Pay are recorded. Cash, payments to friends (Bizum, Zelle, Venmo…), online purchases, payments with the physical card and transfers are not. Nothing about a payment leaves your phone until you save it.
Set it up once
Add the abacova shortcut
Tap "Add the abacova shortcut". The Shortcuts app opens with the shortcut ready: tap "Add Shortcut". The automation that runs it on every payment comes with it, so there's nothing to build.
Switch on the automation
The automation arrives switched off, and it's the step people forget. In Shortcuts, open Automation and switch on "When I tap a Wallet pass or payment card".
Everyday use
A payment with Apple Pay
When you pay with Apple Pay, abacova opens with a new expense already filled in. The first time you use a card, it asks which account the money comes from and remembers it for every later payment with that card.
Confirm and save
Check the expense, pick a category if you like, and save it. It's created as a pending transaction, just as if you had typed it yourself, and you'll see it in Transactions.
Payments to confirm
If you close without saving, the payment isn't lost. It waits in Payments to confirm, behind the bell on Transactions, keeping the day you paid. From there you confirm it or discard it; discarding creates no transaction. The list holds up to 50 payments and stays on your iPhone.
Cash, payments to friends and the rest: Back Tap
A new expense with two taps
For whatever you don't pay with Apple Pay, tap "Add the new expense shortcut", then "Add Shortcut" in Shortcuts. Next, in your iPhone's Settings, go to Accessibility → Touch → Back Tap → Double Tap and choose the "New expense in abacova" shortcut. From then on, two taps on the back of your unlocked iPhone open a blank expense.
Limits worth knowing
- It needs iOS 27 or later.
- If you pay from the lock screen, iOS asks you to unlock before abacova opens.
- With abacova's Face ID lock on, Face ID is asked for first.
- We don't promise that Apple Pay inside apps and on websites fires the automation.
- Saving a transaction needs a connection; until then, the payment waits in Payments to confirm.
- Android is coming soon.