Questions people text us.

BananaTab is a personal accountant you text. You connect your bank once, and it watches your spending, models your income and bills, and texts you what matters, before it becomes a problem. There is no app to open and no dashboard to check. You reply to texts like you would with a friend who is good with money.

Two steps. Leave your number on the homepage, then connect your bank through Plaid. Your first spending review is free: a clear read on where your money went, what is on pace, and a plan to hit your number. After that, BananaTab texts you from its own number and you reply whenever you have a question.

No. BananaTab works entirely over text messages. You save one number, and everything happens in the Messages app you already use. There is nothing to download, nothing to log into, and nothing to remember to open.

Once you're in, BananaTab texts you from its own number. Save it as a contact and reply the way you'd text a friend: “can I spend $300 this weekend?”, “why is this month tight?”, or “dinner was $90 with Jake and Sara.” It answers with real numbers from your accounts.

No. There are no commands to learn and no menu to pick from. Typos, half sentences, and voice-to-text all work. If BananaTab isn't sure what you meant, it asks a one-line question instead of guessing, the way a friend would.

Yes. Leave your number on the homepage and a real person on the BananaTab team will text you back. Support happens over text too, in the same thread.

Yes. You connect through Plaid, the same connection used by most major finance apps, with read-only access. BananaTab can see transactions and balances but can never move money or touch your bank login. You sign in to your bank inside Plaid's secure window; BananaTab never sees your bank password.

No. Access to your accounts is read-only. BananaTab cannot transfer, pay, or withdraw anything. For bill splitting it sends Venmo requests on your behalf, and the payment itself happens in Venmo, directly between you and your friends. BananaTab never holds money.

Checking accounts, savings, and credit cards from banks supported by Plaid, which covers most US banks and card issuers. You can connect more than one account, and BananaTab reads them together as one picture, so “how am I doing” has one answer.

Any time. Disconnecting a linked account stops BananaTab from reading it. You can also ask for access to, correction of, or deletion of your data, subject to the legal and security retention described in our privacy policy.

No. We do not sell your information or share it with third parties for their own marketing. Your phone number is used to text you about your money, and your bank data is used to build your model and answer your questions. The privacy policy has the full detail.

Things you'd want to know while you can still do something about them: you're on pace to finish the month over your goal, a category like dining is running ahead of your usual pace, a charge looks like it was shared, or what's left after bills. Nothing here is a lecture. It is the number a friend who is good with money would tell you.

Only when there is something worth saying. BananaTab is not a daily digest. You hear from it when your pace changes, when a bill lands and changes your leftover, or when a charge looks shared. You can also start a conversation whenever you like.

Anything about your money. What you can afford this weekend, why a month feels tight, what changed compared with your normal pace, how much you spent yesterday, what your recurring charges are, or whether a purchase fits your goal. Because it has a model of your accounts, the answer is specific to you and says the number out loud.

From the model it builds when you connect. BananaTab reads your income, recurring bills, spending patterns, and goals, learns what a normal month looks like for you, and forecasts where you're likely to land. “What can I spend” is the room between that forecast and your number. Read more on the how it works page.

No. It tells you what a decision changes and leaves the decision to you. If $300 puts you $60 over your goal, it says exactly that, and then: your call.

Tell it. Reply with what's off, such as “that charge was rent, not dining” or “that was Sara's, not mine”, and it fixes the record and answers again. Because every money action waits for your yes, a misread never turns into a wrong request going out.

Yes. When BananaTab spots a charge that looks shared, it asks if you want to split it. You can also just tell it what happened, such as “dinner was $120 with Rob and Andrew”, or send a photo of the receipt. It works out who owes what and sends the Venmo requests. The split the bill page walks through it.

Not to build the tab. Use first names, the way you'd tell the story. BananaTab only asks for a number when it's time to send, and only for anyone it doesn't already know: “just need Jake's number.” Reply with it and the request goes out.

No. There is no app. Your friends get a text with a receipt link and a Venmo request. They need Venmo to pay, and nothing else. Each person sees only their own amount, never what anyone else owes.

Never. BananaTab shows you the split and waits for a yes before anything goes out. Anything over $500 gets a second look: “$1,200, is that right?” so an extra zero never leaves the room. Reminders to people who haven't paid also only go out when you approve them, and it stops nudging after three.

BananaTab tells you who's paid and who hasn't, and offers to nudge. Nothing goes out until you say yes. Reminders are spaced at least a day apart, never more than three per person, and after that it hands the thread back to you: “hit the limit on Jake, you may want to follow up directly.” Nobody gets harassed on your behalf.

No. Each friend gets their own one-to-one text with their amount and their Venmo request, and nothing else. Nobody sees the total, what anyone else ordered, or what anyone else owes. No group chat, no awkward math in public.

Tax, tip, and fees are spread across everyone in proportion to what they ordered, so the person who had a salad doesn't subsidise the person who had three cocktails. If the bill only has a total, it's split evenly. Any odd cents land on you, the organizer, never on your friends.

Venmo. Requests go out as Venmo requests, and your friends pay you directly in Venmo. BananaTab tracks who has paid and tells you.

The spending review is free, and splitting is free. Standard message and data rates from your carrier may apply.

Reply STOP to any message and the texts stop. Reply HELP for help. You can disconnect your accounts at the same time, or keep them connected and come back later.

Yes. STOP pauses the texts; your accounts stay connected and your model keeps its memory, so when you come back the first answer is as specific as the last one was. If you'd rather it forgets, disconnect your accounts or ask for deletion and it's gone.

Not yet. BananaTab connects to US banks through Plaid, sends texts to US numbers, and splits over Venmo, which is US only. We'll say so on the homepage when that changes.