Transaction categorization

AMAZON RETA is short for Amazon Retail: a purchase sold and shipped by Amazon itself. It is the same kind of charge as AMAZON.COM; some banks and card networks just cut the merchant name, so it prints as AMAZON RETA* followed by a reference code. It is not a scam and not a separate company. Match it by date and amount in Your Orders on Amazon.

Almost always no. It is a normal Amazon retail order, often one you forgot, a split shipment charged separately, a Prime or digital renewal, or an order placed by someone on a shared account. If no order, subscription or household member explains it, report it to Amazon and to your card issuer.

AMAZON RETA is an order Amazon sold itself. AMZN MKTP (also printed AMAZON MKTPL) is an order from a third-party seller on Amazon's marketplace. Both are charged by Amazon at checkout; the difference matters for returns, where marketplace orders may go through the seller first.

VIOC stands for Valvoline Instant Oil Change. The digits after it are the service center number and the town is its location, for example VIOC #1234 CHICAGO IL. It is a real in-person charge, often posting two or three days after the visit.

Automated transaction categorization is AI software that reads your bank transactions and assigns each one to a spending category — Groceries, Housing, Transport, Subscriptions, etc. — without any manual work. Instead of tagging each transaction yourself in a spreadsheet or accounting app, the AI does it instantly based on merchant name and transaction patterns.

Accuracy depends on the statement format, merchant description, and transaction context. The AI recognizes common merchants and uses the description and amount to suggest a category, while transfers, niche merchants, and mixed-purpose purchases should receive a quick human review.

19 categories: Groceries, Dining Out, Transport, Shopping, Housing & Rent, Utilities, Subscriptions, Healthcare, Entertainment, Travel, Business, Income, Transfers, ATM, Fees & Charges, Insurance, Education, Personal Care, and Other.

Yes. The AI works with bank statements from any bank worldwide — Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Barclays, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, ING, Santander, and thousands more. As long as you have a PDF statement, we can categorize it.

Manual categorization in Excel takes hours — you have to read each row, decide the category, create formulas, and build charts. Our AI does all of that in 30 seconds: reads every transaction, assigns categories, calculates totals, and generates visual breakdowns automatically.

Yes. Anonymous users get one free upload total, ever. That upload analyzes up to 10 PDF pages and shows up to 20 transactions. Free accounts show up to 50 transactions per report. Pro includes 100 pages per billing cycle with full transaction visibility, and Business includes 500 pages per billing cycle.

The best automated transaction categorization software reads PDFs directly (no manual copy-paste), handles any bank format, and uses AI — not rigid rules. Our tool does all three, plus exports to CSV, Excel, QIF, and QuickBooks-compatible formats.

Yes. Many small business owners use automated transaction categorization to prep their books. Export categorized transactions to CSV for Xero, QBO for QuickBooks, or Excel for your accountant. It is best used as a first-pass categorization layer, especially before reconciliation or accountant review.