With its latest iOS 17.4 update, Apple is adding an easier way for Apple Card, Apple Cash, and Savings with Apple Card users to track their balances and transactions, TechCrunch reports. With the update, third-party budgeting apps can automatically import information from Apple’s financial services via the iPhone maker’s FinanceKit API.
Budgeting and money-management apps YNAB, Monarch, and Copilot have all rolled out support for the new feature, which will need to be manually set up from within their respective apps. After setup, YNAB notes that transactions should be automatically imported whenever you open its app, or even take place when its app is running in the background.
As a reminder, Apple Card is the credit card Apple launched in 2019, while Apple Cash is effectively a prepaid debit card that lives in your Apple Wallet and lets you send and receive money via iMessage, or spend via Apple Pay in-store, online, and in apps. Apple’s Savings account is a place to earn interest on Apple Card cashback and any extra money you want to stow away.
YNAB’s post also mentions that the feature is exclusively available in the US, given that’s the only country where Apple offers its Card, Cash, and Savings account. The feature is distinct from a similar Apple Pay initiative Apple launched in the UK last November, which allows Apple Wallet to show balances and transactions from compatible third-party bank accounts.
This isn’t the only money-focused feature that’s arrived as part of the iOS 17.4 update. In the European Economic Area the update also allows third-party developers to use the iPhone’s NFC features to offer contactless payments, following an antitrust investigation by European Union regulators. Of course, the update is also notable for rolling out Apple’s compliance with the EU’s Digital Markets Act, including support for third-party app stores.
