Categorization Rules — Deterministic, Not Guesswork
Write the rule once and every future import obeys it: match on what the transaction actually says, then set the category, add a tag, or turn it into a transfer.
From a rule you wrote to what is left for the AI
Three screens: the Rules list, the Quick rule pill on a transaction you just recategorized, and everything no rule matched.
Some things should not be guessed
The Rules screen shows what you decided, rule by rule: the conditions on top — Title contains “Spotify” and Type equals EXPENSE — and under them the category and the tag the match sets. A condition can also read the merchant code, the amount, the account or the import source, and every rule has its own switch, so turning one off never means deleting it.
The Quick rule pill writes it for you
Change the category or the tags of an existing transaction and a Quick rule pill appears above the amount. It builds the conditions from the merchant name — reference numbers, amounts, dates and company suffixes stripped out, the comment used when the name is too generic — pins the merchant code when the transaction carries one, and attaches exactly the category and tags you just picked. Tap the pill and the rule exists; swipe it away and it is gone.
Rules run before the AI does
Rules are evaluated on Monobank sync, on bank file sync and on file import, so most rows land already categorized — and a category a rule assigned is never second-guessed by a suggestion. What no rule covered is counted in the missing-categories pill above the list; open one of those rows and the on-device suggestion offers a category for it.
Some categorization should be a rule, not a suggestion
Your landlord's transfer, your gym membership, the corner shop you visit twice a week — you already know where those belong. A rule states that once, in plain conditions, and the app stops asking.
Conditions can look at the title, the comment, the amount, the merchant category code, the account, the transaction type, or the import source it came from. Combine them with "match all" or "match any", and pick the operator that fits: equals, contains, does not contain, greater than, less than, between, in a list, or a regular expression. Text comparisons ignore letter case.
What you get
Conditions on title, comment, amount, MCC, account, transaction type, and import source
Match all or match any, with contains, equals, comparison, list, and regular-expression operators
Actions that set a category, add a tag, or convert the transaction into a transfer
Rules run automatically on Monobank sync, bank file sync, and CSV import
Saving a rule applies it retroactively to matching transactions you already have
A dedicated Rules screen with search across conditions, actions, categories, tags, and accounts
Every rule can be switched off without being deleted
A "matching rules" pill on a transaction shows which rules apply to it
The Quick rule pill writes the rule for you
When exactly one of your existing rules already matches the transaction, the pill turns into “Update rule?” and rewrites that rule's category and tag instead of creating a near-duplicate. When the conditions it would write already exist word for word, Budgie says so and lets you open the existing rule or create the new one anyway. Either way the rule is applied to your existing transactions as soon as it is saved.
Rules and on-device AI do different jobs
Rules are deterministic: the same conditions produce the same category every single time, which is what you want for rent, salary, subscriptions, and anything with a stable merchant name. On-device AI categorization is the opposite tool — it guesses sensibly for merchants you have never seen before. They are separate systems, and most setups end up using both.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do rules apply to transactions I type in myself?
Can one rule do more than one thing?
What happens when I already have a lot of rules?
Is this the same as the AI categorization?
Can I turn a rule off temporarily?
Related Features
Read More on the Blog
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