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How to set up a Wallet automation in Shortcuts

Free guide · updated 2026-10-31

Open the Shortcuts app, go to Automation, create a new personal automation and choose Wallet as the trigger. Pick the cards to watch, choose Run Immediately, then add an action that uses the tap's Amount and Merchant, such as appending a line to a note or a budgeting app's own logging action. Save it and make sure the automation is switched on. It runs for in-store contactless payments only.

What do I need before I start?

  • An iPhone with Apple Pay set up in the Wallet app.
  • The Shortcuts app, which is built into iOS.
  • Somewhere to send each tap: a note, a spreadsheet, or a budgeting app that offers a Shortcuts action.

Menu names can differ slightly between iOS versions. The steps below follow iOS 27.

How do I create the automation?

  1. Open Shortcuts and tap the Automation tab.
  2. Tap + (or New Automation) and choose Wallet from the list of triggers.
  3. Select the cards it should watch. Leave the categories unselected to catch every kind of purchase.
  4. Choose Run Immediately, so it does not ask you to confirm every tap. Leave the notification off if you prefer silence.
  5. Tap Next and start a new blank shortcut for the action.

What action should it run?

The trigger hands the shortcut a Shortcut Input with the details of the tap. Pick the fields you need from it.

To log taps to a note (free, no app)

  1. Add Append to Note and choose a note, for example "Spending".
  2. In the text field, insert the variables Current Date, Merchant and Amount from the Shortcut Input, separated by commas.
  3. Each tap now adds a line such as 31 Oct 2026, Corner Cafe, 4.75, which pastes cleanly into a spreadsheet.

To log taps to a budgeting app

Add the app's own action, if it has one, and pass it the Amount and Merchant. Tally's is set up for you from inside the app, so you only add it and switch it on.

Why is my automation not running?

  • It is switched off. Automations added from a shared link always arrive off. Open the Automation tab and check the switch.
  • It asks before running. Edit the automation and choose Run Immediately.
  • The payment was online or in an app. The Wallet trigger only fires for contactless payments at a terminal.
  • The card is not selected. Edit the automation and add it.

Common questions

Does the Wallet automation see my card number?

It sees which card was used, by its name in Wallet, along with the amount and the merchant. It does not hand the action your full card number.

Can it log Apple Pay purchases made online?

No. The Wallet trigger fires only for in-store contactless payments. For online orders, use your bank's transaction feed or its purchase alerts.

Will it slow down paying?

No. The payment completes first, and the automation runs on your iPhone afterwards.

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Who wrote this

Tally is an iPhone budgeting app. It reads the accounts you connect, files every purchase on its own, and shows one number: what is safe to spend today. It imports a statement as a PDF, CSV or text file when a bank cannot be connected, and keeps one budget across 32 currencies. Free to download; the paid plan is $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year with a seven-day trial.

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