Answered
Do I need to link my bank account to track expenses?
No. Linking your bank is one way to get transactions into an app automatically, but you can track everything accurately without it, using receipts, payment screenshots, quick manual entries and, on some phones, bank alerts read on the device.
Whether you should link depends on how much you value automation against handing a third party ongoing access to your account.
Free · No ads · 140+ currencies · Android (iOS coming soon)
Balance - Expense Tracker by Clarzen on Google Play
What bank linking really means
When an app "links" your bank, it either uses an official data-sharing system (open banking in the UK and EU, Account Aggregator in India, aggregator services in the US) or, with older services, asks for your online banking login. Either way, the app or its partner gets a continuing feed of your transactions.
It's convenient: purchases appear without you doing anything. The trade-off is that your full transaction history now sits with another company, connections break and need re-authorising, and cash spending still has to be added by hand.
What you give up by not linking
- Automatic import of card and account transactions
- Exact matching to your bank balance without any effort
- A full history from before you started using the app
What you gain
- No third party with standing access to your accounts
- No broken connections to fix every few months
- A habit of noticing each spend, which on its own tends to reduce impulse buys
- Cash, splits and transfers recorded the same way as everything else
Tracking without linking, in practice
The trick is making each entry take seconds. Log a spend right after you pay, scan the receipt or payment screenshot instead of typing, and set up your recurring bills once so they don't need re-entering. A quick weekly look at your totals catches anything you missed.
Balance is built this way. It never asks for a bank login. You add spends by scanning a receipt or payment screenshot or with a couple of taps, and on Android you can optionally let it pick up bank SMS alerts (Indian banks today) and notifications from apps you choose, all read on your phone.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to give a budgeting app my bank login?
Official open banking or Account Aggregator connections never share your password and are much safer than apps that ask for your login directly. Never type your net-banking password into a third-party app.
Does Balance connect to my bank?
No. Balance never asks for a bank login or net-banking credentials, and it never links to your bank account. You add transactions by scanning a receipt or payment screenshot, entering them manually, or, on Android, letting Balance pick them up from bank SMS alerts if you turn that on.
Can I export my data?
Yes. You can export everything to CSV at any time, and you can delete your account and all backups from within the app.
Keep exploring
Track every expense. Ask anything.
Free to download, no ads, no bank login. Get Balance on Google Play and start tracking in minutes.
