What each description on your Spanish bank statement means.

It usually starts with “COMPRA TARJ.” or “PAGO CON TARJETA”, followed by the card number with most digits replaced by X, and then the shop, sometimes with the town attached. From “COMPRA TARJ. 5540XXXXXXXX1234 FARMACIA DEL CARMEN-VALENCIA”, Jeff Banks keeps “Farmacia del Carmen” and gives it the type “Pago con tarjeta”.

A card line where money comes in is a “Devolución”, and so is a line that says “DEVOLUCION”, like “DEVOLUCION COMPRA TARJ. 5540XXXXXXXX1234 DEPORTES RIBERA”.

It is a payment a company collects from your account because you authorized it, like electricity or home insurance. Jeff Banks labels lines with “ADEUDO”, “RECIBO” or “DOMICILIACION” as “Recibo domiciliado”, and from “ADEUDO SEPA SEGUROS HOGAR NORTE S.A. Nº RECIBO 0123456789 MANDATO 12345ABC” it keeps “Seguros Hogar Norte”, without the bill number or the mandate reference, which identifies your authorization.

If the line also carries a stronger word, that word decides, so a returned bill, “DEVOLUCION RECIBO”, shows as “Devolución”. A “COMISION” charged on a bill shows as “Comisión”.

One you make reads “TRANSFERENCIA A FAVOR DE” or “TRANSF.” followed by the person paid, and one you receive reads “TRANSFERENCIA DE” followed by the sender. Jeff Banks tells them apart as “Transferencia enviada” and “Transferencia recibida” and titles each with the other person.

Whatever follows “CONCEPTO” was written by whoever sent the money. It leaves the title but counts toward the category, so “TRANSF. INMEDIATA A FAVOR DE MARCOS RUIZ CONCEPTO CENA” is titled “Marcos Ruiz” and the word “CENA”, dinner, puts it under “Restaurantes”.

“TRASPASO” is money you move between accounts that are both yours, say into the one the bills come out of. Jeff Banks gives it the type “Traspaso entre cuentas” and titles “TRASPASO A CUENTA AHORRO” as “Cuenta Ahorro”.

Alone, it counts under whatever category the rules pick, here “Ahorro e inversión”. It stops counting once Jeff Banks finds the other half in another of your accounts, or once you mark it.

When you import the statement as a CSV file, every line becomes a movement. For the title, Jeff Banks removes the bank's prefix first, then the card number, dates and references, then a legal form such as S.L. left at the end, and last a town it knows at the end. If a town follows the legal form, only the town goes. The types above come from the description, but if your CSV has a “Tipo” or “Type” column, Jeff Banks reads it first, and a code it recognizes there decides.

The category comes first from the rules for businesses and words in the line, then from the type, and when nothing fits, from whether money goes out or comes in. If you want another, you pick it from the list, “Cargo” lines included. The bank's own line is kept as it was, and opening the movement shows it under “Concepto del banco”.

In the example, “COMPRA TARJ. 5540XXXXXXXX1234 MERCADONA VALENCIA” comes down to “Mercadona”, without the prefix, the card number or the town. The salary arrives as “TRANSFERENCIA DE GRUPO LEVANTE LOGISTICA SL CONCEPTO NOMINA”, and the title is the company paying it, “Grupo Levante Logistica”, without the “SL” or the note. “CARGO CUOTA 8/24 PRESTAMO CETELEM” becomes “Cetelem”, and installment 8 of 24 comes from the text itself.