Confirm alerts are on email, not SMS-only
Log into each bank’s net-banking or mobile app and verify transaction alerts go to the Gmail address you plan to use. SMS alerts are useful for fraud detection but terrible for month-end summaries — you cannot search “all food spending” across 400 SMS messages.
Use Gmail filters for bank senders
Create a label like “Bank Alerts” and filters that match your banks’ alert sender addresses (e.g. alerts from HDFC, SBI, ICICI domains). Skip the Promotions tab trap — bank mail sometimes lands in Updates or Promotions depending on the template.
- One filter per bank using “from:” addresses you recognize
- Skip Inbox + apply label if you want a clean primary inbox
- Never filter personal mail into the same label as bank alerts
When you are ready to automate
Organized alerts are step one. Step two is extracting transactions automatically — which is what Glass Money does with read-only Gmail access to known bank senders only. Glass Money is available through limited beta access while restricted-scope verification is in progress.
Sources and review notes
We use primary sources where possible and review comparison pages quarterly. Product availability and pricing can change, so check each linked source before making a decision.