Connecting your credit or debit card to Google Pay makes it easy to track your payments in the app. But what about payments you don’t make with those cards? There’s a clever solution for tracking physical receipts too using Google Photos and Gmail.
Google Pay doesn’t let you manually enter transactions. To get around this limitation, you can take a photo of a physical receipt or let Google find it in your emails. This feature can also automatically associate receipts with their existing recorded transactions in the app.
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In order for this feature to work, you must be a Google Photos or Gmail user. You’ll need to give Google permission to access your Photos or Gmail inbox so it can find the receipts. Let’s get started.
Open the Google Pay app on your iPhone or Android device. From the main “Pay” tab, tap your profile photo in the top-right corner. If this is your first time using the app, you’ll need to sign in with a Google account first.
Next, tap “Settings.”
Now we’re going to select the “Privacy & Security” section.
Lastly, tap “Linked Transaction Data.”
There are two toggles on this screen. The first one will allow Google Pay to find receipts from your Gmail. The second one will locate photos of receipts in your Google Photos library. Enable either one or both.
The automatically detected transactions will appear in the “Insights” tab along with other transactions. You’ll see a tiny receipt icon if it was from one of the methods you enabled above.
That’s all there is to it! This is a great way to ensure all of your purchases are being recorded so you can use Google Pay’s personal finance tools.
RELATED: How to Connect Google Pay to Your Bank or Credit Card to Track Spending
