# Is there anyway to pull in more meta-data about automatic bill pays from financial institution for use in AutoCat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask Anything\ **Created:** [January 14, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018 "2023-01-14T15:38:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![imthenachoman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/imthenachoman/32/11072_2.png) [@imthenachoman](https://community.tiller.com/u/imthenachoman)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/1 "2023-01-14T15:38:34Z")
I have a slew of bill pays configured. In transactions they just show as `CHECK #1234`. This isn’t really useful/helpful for creating AutoCat rules. Some of the transactions are always the same amount so I can create AutoCat rules. I don’t know what to do about the others? Is there a way to see the raw data Tiller gets from Yodlee? Maybe there is some other metadata we can use? For example, maybe Yodlee adds some kind of internal ID column that maps to who the money is going to – and we could create a lookup sheet in our Spreadsheet to map the associations. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/tillermoney/original/2X/e/e79d5e885ef4b673ce38e69b5d37205e2a7b12c0.png) ---
**Author:** ![tiger01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@tiger01](https://community.tiller.com/u/tiger01)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 10:22pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/2 "2023-01-18T22:22:02Z")
Would love this feature too. I worked on Yodlee data feeds in a previous job, so I know there is a lot of rich metadata in there. The only quasi-secret feature I know about is Category Hint. If you put a “Category Hint” column in your Transactions sheet, Tiller will populate it with the contents of the “category” field from Yodlee. It’s often inaccurate, but I use it combined with some other rules in AutoCat. ---
**Author:** ![imthenachoman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/imthenachoman/32/11072_2.png) [@imthenachoman](https://community.tiller.com/u/imthenachoman)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/3 "2023-01-19T00:22:57Z")
I wonder if there is a way for us regular users to see what data/fields Yodlee has… ---
**Author:** ![randy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/randy/32/16_2.png) [@randy](https://community.tiller.com/u/randy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/4 "2023-01-19T02:24:31Z")
This is an interesting question, @imthenachoman. A change to what fields are fed via the add-on would take many months (with all the improvements we already have prioritized), but perhaps @tim or @tom can chime in on whether Yodlee has data that could make matching check numbers to helpful transaction information easier. BTW… @tiger01 makes a good point about `Category Hint`. That is some Yodlee data that we capture but don’t push into most users’ sheets… unless they manually add a column for it. ---
**Author:** ![imthenachoman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/imthenachoman/32/11072_2.png) [@imthenachoman](https://community.tiller.com/u/imthenachoman)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:21am UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/5 "2023-01-19T04:21:13Z")
> [@randy](#): > > A change to what fields are fed via the add-on would take many months Fair. I do think it supports Tiller’s primary objective. The heart of what Tiller does is in the transactions. If there is relevant/helpful information in those transaction details, it would be prudent to share that with customers. > [@randy](#): > > That is some Yodlee data that we capture but don’t push into most users’ sheets… unless they manually add a column for it. What other Yodlee data is available that we can create columns for? ---
**Author:** ![imthenachoman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/imthenachoman/32/11072_2.png) [@imthenachoman](https://community.tiller.com/u/imthenachoman)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:22am UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/6 "2023-01-19T04:22:10Z")
Never mind. I found it: [Transactions Sheet Columns | Tiller Help Center](https://help.tillerhq.com/en/articles/432681-transactions-sheet-columns). ---
**Author:** ![randy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/randy/32/16_2.png) [@randy](https://community.tiller.com/u/randy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 5:12am UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/7 "2023-01-19T05:12:40Z")
[This](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/116LhgKnGtX08ErG8RyfYBViRXdwWh671fuz9ZK6BSFA/edit#gid=0) is good too. I agree with your point that sharing any more data that is available “supports Tiller’s primary objective”. We’ve got some [important stuff in the pipeline](https://community.tiller.com/t/tiller-2023-a-preview-of-our-year-ahead/15994) in that vein. We are always open to new ideas though so keep advocating. ---
**Author:** ![peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/peter/32/27_2.png) [@peter](https://community.tiller.com/u/peter)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 10:39am UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/8 "2023-01-19T10:39:14Z")
The number of checks I write has dwindled, but there are still checks, and I echo this. I too have some AutoCat rules based on “check” in the description plus a certain amount and account for recurring items, but that leaves other checks that require my oversight. Part of the challenge is the most banks have very little structured data they share about checks, so the data for Yodlee to work from is limited to “Check #201” at best. The most valuable clue for me is the digital scanned image of the check I can manually access by logging into my bank from the web. I don’t know of any way to access that currently from any aggregator. ---
**Author:** ![tom](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/tom/32/334_2.png) [@tom](https://community.tiller.com/u/tom)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/9 "2023-01-19T14:53:00Z")
I use checks still for a few bills and for me the important part of data is the check memo line, which tells me specifically how to categorize the check. Unfortunately, that data is not pulled in by Yodlee, so I usually have my check register handy and can quickly categorize from reviewing the check register. ---
**Author:** ![imthenachoman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/imthenachoman/32/11072_2.png) [@imthenachoman](https://community.tiller.com/u/imthenachoman)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/10 "2023-01-19T15:17:33Z")
I think for manually written checks, Yodlee will never have data. But if we use an online bill payment system, then I would assume/hope Yodlee has more information – like the bill recipient. I wish we, regular users, could see all the data Yodlee has. ---
**Author:** ![heather](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/heather/32/177_2.png) [@heather](https://community.tiller.com/u/heather)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/11 "2023-01-19T17:14:54Z")
> [@imthenachoman](#): > > I wish we, regular users, could see all the data Yodlee has. Thanks for your feedback here. I’d recommend searching for or adding a [feature request](https://community.tiller.com/c/feature-requests) for this. ---
**Author:** ![imthenachoman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/imthenachoman/32/11072_2.png) [@imthenachoman](https://community.tiller.com/u/imthenachoman)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/12 "2023-01-19T18:28:45Z")
> [@heather](#): > > Thanks for your feedback here. I’d recommend searching for or adding a [feature request](https://community.tiller.com/c/feature-requests) for this. Thanks. I didn’t see anything when I searched before submitting this post but I will check again. ---
**Author:** ![AdamTillls](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/adamtillls/32/5047_2.png) [@AdamTillls](https://community.tiller.com/u/AdamTillls)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/13 "2023-01-20T20:18:50Z")
Yodlee metadata doc here, see **transactions** > **[Views API - Data Model | Yodlee Developer Portal](https://developer.yodlee.com/products/yodlee/personalized-views/docs/data-model)** > > The Views Data Model explains the details of the information supplied by the Views APIs. This helps you understand the structure and details of entities contained in the data returned by our services. ---
**Author:** ![michaelrwolfseattle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/michaelrwolfseattle/32/9808_2.png) [@michaelrwolfseattle](https://community.tiller.com/u/michaelrwolfseattle)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/14 "2023-01-20T20:21:21Z")
I, too, have been frustrated with “Check 6038168”, but thought it was a last-century hold-over from COBOL-based systems at my Credit Union - BECU (F.K.A. Boeing Employees Credit Union). When I download CSV files directly from their “(Barely) Online Banking” site, I don’t get any better information. It has been a frustration of mine, because I have had bill-paying automation with them for many, many years. I tell _THEM_ the payee name (and even a memo), and a mailing address. I want them to tell _ME_ the same information. My perspective is that BECU is brain-dead on e-banking, and this lack of information pass-through will eventually be the reason I leave them (even though I want to stay). If it’s Yodlee (instead of BECU), perhaps there’s another way for me to preserve the information I want. Heck, they don’t need to _generate_ the information; they only need to _preserve_ it. Either way (BECU or Yodlee), I’m pretty sure that this is NOT a deficiency in Tiller. ---
**Author:** ![michaelrwolfseattle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tiller.com/michaelrwolfseattle/32/9808_2.png) [@michaelrwolfseattle](https://community.tiller.com/u/michaelrwolfseattle)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 8:22pm UTC](https://community.tiller.com/t/is-there-anyway-to-pull-in-more-meta-data-about-automatic-bill-pays-from-financial-institution-for-use-in-autocat/16018/15 "2023-01-20T20:22:37Z")
Tiller is doing a STELLAR JOB displaying someone else’s incomplete data.