We know giving any app access to your SMS feels scary. This page explains exactly what Vitta reads, what it extracts, what it stores — and what it never does.
A fair concern
Vitta processes everything on your phone
We show you exactly what happens — step by step, field by field. No vague policies.
The difference
What you feared
What actually happens
SMS access is optional. But if you use it, here's exactly what Vitta does — nothing more.
Download Vitta FreeStep by step
Your bank sends a transaction alert to your phone — the same message you've always received. This happens independently of Vitta.
On your phoneVitta scans the message locally using pattern matching — looking for keywords like "debited", "₹", bank name patterns. If it doesn't look like a bank transaction, it's completely ignored.
On-device only — never uploadedIf it's a transaction, Vitta extracts exactly 3 values: the amount (e.g. ₹1,240), the merchant name (e.g. Swiggy), and the bank name (e.g. HDFC). The raw SMS text is not stored anywhere.
Amount · Merchant · Bank onlyVitta shows you the extracted expense as a preview card. You see exactly what was detected. Nothing is saved yet.
You're in controlOnly after you explicitly approve the expense is it saved to your account in Firebase (Mumbai, AES-256 encrypted). You can also reject it — it disappears entirely.
Your approval, always requiredTotal transparency
What we never do
What we do
Technical guarantees
Zero raw SMS uploaded — ever. The message text stays on your device and is discarded after the 3 fields are extracted.
Only 3 fields ever extracted: transaction amount, merchant name, and bank name. Nothing else from the message is read or stored.
Your data stored in Firebase asia-south1 (Mumbai) with AES-256 encryption at rest and TLS 1.2+ in transit. Per-user Firestore security rules mean only you can access your data.
Delete your account and all data is permanently removed — expenses, categories, groups, settings. Confirmed in 9 verified deletion steps.
"Vitta doesn't just track your money. It understands it."
Common questions
No. All SMS processing happens entirely on your device. Raw SMS messages are never sent to any server. Vitta only extracts 3 fields: the transaction amount, merchant name, and bank name.
Vitta extracts only 3 fields from bank SMS messages: the transaction amount, merchant name, and bank name. It does not store the full message text, your phone number, account number, or any other SMS content.
Vitta only processes messages that look like bank transaction alerts — it uses pattern matching to identify transaction-related SMS. Personal messages are ignored entirely. You can also review and reject any auto-detected transaction before it's saved.
Your expense data (amount, merchant, category, date) is stored securely in Google Firebase, in the asia-south1 (Mumbai) region, with AES-256 encryption. It is never sold to third parties or shared with advertisers.
Yes. SMS access is completely optional. You can use all of Vitta's core features — expense tracking, budgets, splits, insights — by adding expenses manually. SMS auto-import is an opt-in convenience feature.