Track your spending in Spain: Bizum, payslips and shared flats

Bizum, for newcomers

Bizum is the instant phone-number payment that Spanish banks share, with more than 32.5 million users according to the company. It's how people settle a dinner, a gift or a weekend trip, which is exactly why it slips through the cracks: your bank shows a 30 € Bizum, not whether it was your dinner or someone else's share.

In Kesef you log it on the spot. Add Bizum as a payment method with one tap, and when the cost was shared, put it in a group: everyone sees their share and Kesef keeps track of who owes whom until you settle up.

Your payslip and the two extra payments

Spain's Workers' Statute provides for two extraordinary payments a year, one at Christmas and another in the month set by the collective agreement, often in summer. Some agreements spread them across the twelve monthly payslips instead, so there's nothing extra to wait for.

In Kesef your month can start on the day your salary lands. Extra payments that aren't spread out go in as income in the month they arrive, and a savings goal is a good place to decide what they're for before they're gone.

Euros, with pounds or dollars on the side

If part of your income still comes in pounds or dollars, Kesef keeps each movement in its own currency and shows totals in the one you choose, usually euros. It converts with an international rate from the day you log it and keeps that rate fixed, so a closed month doesn't change when the pound moves.

If your phone's region is Spain, Kesef starts with the euro as your main currency, and the app can stay in English: the language follows your phone and you can change it from your Profile.

Apple Pay, logged on its own

There's no Spanish account Kesef can bring in by itself. What does work is Apple Pay: with Kesef Pro and an iPhone on iOS 17 or later, you set up a Shortcuts automation once and every in-store Apple Pay payment comes into Kesef with the amount and merchant, whichever bank your card is from.

infoIf your bank doesn't pass the amount to Wallet, the payment isn't lost: it waits as pending, with the merchant and date, for you to fill in.

Examples in euros

• ExampleA flat dinner, settled by BizumYou pay 100 € for dinner for four flatmates and the others will send their share by Bizum. You log it in your flat's group, split four ways, and Kesef shows each of them owes you 25 €.
• ExamplePrivate health insurance with SanitasSanitas is on the suggested list of recurring expenses in Spain: you pick it, enter 62 € and a category, and it shows up every month before the charge.
• ExampleA laptop paid over 12 months with SantanderYou split a laptop into 12 monthly payments on your Santander credit card and will pay 1.320 € in total. You log that total once, and Kesef puts 110 € in each of the 12 months.
• ExampleFreelance income in poundsA UK client pays you £800. You log it as income in pounds, and your monthly total in euros includes it at that day's rate.

Everything else Kesef does

• Category budgets that tell you how much you can spend per day until the period ends.
• Savings goals with their contributions.
• Groups to split expenses with an invite link, free for everyone who joins.
• Recurring expenses, like a subscription, that repeat on their own.
• A calendar with what you spent each day and what's coming.
• A Chat you can ask about your own spending.

Downloading and using Kesef is free, on iPhone and Android. Kesef Pro is an optional subscription that removes ads and limits, and you see its price in the store before subscribing.

Keep reading

• Kesef or Fintonic: reading your bank, or tracking all your spendingHow Kesef differs from an app that connects to Spanish banks.
• Split the household bills without keeping score in your headGroups for flats, trips and dinners.
• Your Apple Pay payments, logged on their ownThe Apple Pay automation, step by step.
• Track spending across currencies without doing the maths yourselfHow Kesef handles several currencies.