Import once, remember forever: merchant memory for CSV imports

If you import your transactions from a bank CSV, you'll know the tedious bit: every import, the same shops come in uncategorised, and you sort Countdown into Groceries and Z Energy into Petrol all over again. Not anymore.

KeaBudget now has merchant memory. Categorise a merchant once, and it's remembered, so the next time that merchant shows up in an import, the category is already filled in.

How it works

It's automatic, and it lives right inside the import you already do:

1. Import a CSV as usual and go to the preview.
2. Set the category on any merchant you want to remember (for example Countdown to Groceries). The "Remember the merchants I categorise" tick box is on by default.
3. Import. KeaBudget saves a rule for each merchant you categorised, and the result screen tells you how many it remembered.

Next time you import, any row that matches a saved merchant comes in already categorised, with a small "auto" tag so you can see why. You can always change it: the memory is a head start, not a lock-in.

Manage your rules

Everything you've taught it lives on the new Import rules page (under "More" in the top menu). There you can:

• See every rule at a glance ("countdown" goes to Groceries).
• Add a rule by hand. This is handy when a shop's description changes between imports (like a store number on the end): add a rule for just the merchant name, for example "countdown", and it'll match them all.
• Remove any rule you no longer want.

Give it a go

Next time you import a CSV, categorise a few merchants and watch the following import fill them in for you. A minute of tidying now saves the same minute on every import from here on.

As always, this was built in the open. If you've got an idea to make it better, pop it on the ideas board.