Rule Builder

[tommy5dollar (Tommy Long)]

I’ve seen a number of people make requests around notifications and various seemingly custom actions they want performed.

It would be really good if Monzo looked at creating a rule builder (in the long-term) which allowed you to set actions to be taken when particular events occur. Whilst I’m sure this could be done using the API and IFTTT it would also be good to bring it to ordinary people via the app.

A few examples:

1. ON [transaction] IF [account.oldBalance] >= 100 AND [account.newBalance] < 100 THEN [send_sms=“Balance low”]
2. ON [transaction] IF [merchant.tag] = “Salary” AND [transaction.amount] > 500 THEN [transferTo(“Savings”)]

There are obviously hundreds of combinations and this could take place of a large number of the threads on the forum.

[Andy1 (Andy Little)]

I suggested something before regarding ‘intelligent regular transfers’

Set up regular transfers with intelligence

I see that initiate payments via the API is on the roadmap, so those of us with the skills (and the time and inclination) can set something like this up ourselves easily. But for everyone else I was wondering what everyone though of the following feature: Allow users to set up regular payments with a level of ‘intelligence’. For example, on payday transfer 75% of last month’s remaining money to one account and the rest to an internal savings pot. Payday could be determined either by the date …

I think your idea is better, it will allow more versatility.

[AlexM (Alex Mayo)]

+1! This is a great idea and would be incredibly versatile. Fingers crossed for the future

[tommy5dollar (Tommy Long)]

Another use case; reclassifying transactions from a vendor into the right category. For instance:

ON [transaction] IF [merchant.ID] = “Tesco” AND [transaction.Description].Contains(“fuel”) THEN [setCategory(“Transport/Fuel”)]

ON [transaction] IF [merchant.ID] = “Tesco” AND [transaction.Location] = “123” THEN [setCategory(“Eating Out/Lunch”)]
ON [transaction] IF [merchant.ID] = “Tesco” AND [transaction.Time].Equals(“13:00”, WithinOneHour) THEN [setCategory(“Eating Out/Lunch”)]

ON [transaction] IF [merchant.ID] = “PayPal” AND [transaction.Description.Contains(“Spotify”) THEN [setCategory(“Entertainment/Music”)]

I even see that Monzo/the community could pre-build a large number of rules (into sets) such as identifying particular merchant locations as fuel stations, etc.

[jzw95]

As an addition to any rule feature, it would be great if the iOS version could tie into the amazing Workflow. I realise that how Workflow integrations will work in the future is a bit up in the air, given Apple’s recent acquisition. But I’m sure there will be an opportunity there, whether with Workflow as an app, or if it is integrated into iOS. The power of Workflow is just incredible, so could be really useful. If decides to implement some sort of rule builder, hopefully the Workflow integration path will be clear by then.

[tommy5dollar (Tommy Long)]

I’m not an expert on Workflow but surely as long as Monzo expose everything by API and give powerful enough webhooks then everything needed for Workflow should be covered?

[jzw95]

I don’t fully understand the technical details of how it works, but I think Workflow requires x-callback URLs in the Monzo app. At the moment. Apple recently (within the past couple of weeks) bought Workflow. Whether they will change the integration model in the future remains to be seen. But I guess all of this could be assessed if/when Monzo start designing a rule builder.

To be clear, I think that even without Workflow support, your rule builder idea is great! It’s just that being able to tie it into other iOS apps/processing would make it even better.