UPI payments
Payments to shops and people. Give an unknown UPI ID a name and a category once, and every later payment to it is filed the same way.
SMS expense tracker · India · Android
Your bank texts you. ControlExpense logs it.
An automatic expense tracker that reads the transaction SMS from your bank, credit card, UPI app and wallet, on your phone, and turns each one into a ledger entry. No bank login, no typing.
- Banks, credit cards, UPI apps and wallets
- Reads up to 12 months of past alerts on day one
- Message text never leaves your phone
- Still works fully if you say no to SMS
How it works
From bank alert to ledger entry in a second.
Allow SMS, once
ControlExpense explains what it reads and why before Android asks. Say yes and it reads new alerts as they arrive, plus up to 12 months of old ones if you like.
It reads on your phone
The amount, the account, how you paid (UPI, card, net banking, ATM) and the merchant become an entry with a category. Nothing is sent anywhere to do this.
You check what's unsure
Anything ControlExpense isn't confident about waits in a Review inbox for one tap, instead of quietly guessing and spoiling your totals.
Cards and net banking
Debit and credit card swipes, online payments, AutoPay mandates and EMIs, each tied to the right account and card.
Salary and refunds
Money in is recorded too. A refund is linked to the purchase it reverses, so your spending isn't counted twice.
Counted once
Transfers between your own accounts, credit card bill payments and wallet top-ups aren't spending, so ControlExpense doesn't count them as spending.
Fake-alert guard
"Credited" messages from personal phone numbers are a common scam. They're flagged and never imported.
Cash trail
ATM withdrawals fill your cash wallet, and ControlExpense shows how much of that cash you haven't logged yet.
Private by design
Your messages stay on your phone.
SMS are read on the phone. Only the amount, account, payment method and merchant are kept, in an encrypted database. Message text is never uploaded, synced or put in crash reports. ControlExpense never connects to your bank and never asks for passwords, PINs or OTPs. How ControlExpense protects you.
Questions
SMS tracking, answered.
Which banks does the SMS expense tracker support?
Alerts from Indian banks, credit cards, UPI apps and wallets. If a format isn't recognised, the entry goes to the Review inbox instead of being guessed. Outside India, log by voice in your language, a short note or the keypad.
Does ControlExpense read my OTPs or personal messages?
It only keeps the fields of transaction alerts: amount, account, payment method and merchant. Other messages are not stored, and no message text ever leaves your phone.
Do I need internet for automatic tracking?
No. Reading and filing alerts happens entirely on the phone, so it works offline.
Can I use ControlExpense without giving SMS permission?
Yes. Say no and everything else still works: type a note like "petrol 1.5k card", speak the expense, or use the keypad calculator. You can turn auto-capture on or off any time in Settings.
How much does it cost?
5 days free, then Basic at US$1 a month (auto-capture included) or Pro at US$2 a month, shown in rupees on Google Play. Compare plans.
Let your bank do the typing.
Also see the budget planner and voice entry.