Duplicate transactions

Synci checks every transaction it receives against the ones it already has. When your bank sends a transaction again, or a pending transaction later books, Synci normally updates the copy it already stored instead of adding a new one. If you still see the same transaction twice, this article helps you find out why and stop it from happening again.

Find out where the duplicate is

Start by checking whether the duplicate exists in Synci itself or only in your destination. Go to Transactions in the sidebar and look for both copies.

• Both copies are in Synci: the duplicate was created while syncing from your bank. See the first three causes below.

• Only one copy is in Synci, but two arrived in your destination: the transaction was sent twice. This usually means the same bank is connected twice (see the last cause below).

Click a transaction to open its details. The Transfer Logs tab lists every destination it was sent to, which makes it easy to spot a transaction that arrived from two different links.

Common causes

A pending transaction booked with a different amount

Card pre-authorizations, such as fuel station, hotel or car rental holds, are often authorized for a placeholder amount. When the transaction books, the amount changes, and many banks give the booked transaction new identifiers too. Without help, the booked transaction looks like a brand new one.

Match settlements with changed amounts handles this. When a booked transaction matches a pending one's counterparty (and card details, when your bank provides them), Synci updates the pending transaction instead of creating a duplicate. It's on by default and looks for a match within the Settlement match window, which defaults to 7 days. If your bank regularly takes longer to settle card payments, raise the window (up to 14 days).

Your bank re-worded the payee when the transaction booked

Banks often shorten the counterparty name when a transaction settles and add details the pending entry never had. For example, RYANAIR.COM can settle as RYANAIR.C 2833094798. If both versions arrive in the same sync, the renamed one may not match the pending entry.

Match re-worded counterparty names treats names that line up as a shortened or extended version of each other as the same counterparty, so the pending copy is updated instead of stored a second time. Names that conflict, like AMAZON 123 and AMAZON 456, never match. It's on by default.

The names must line up on a minimum number of characters, set by Re-worded name minimum match (characters) (6 by default). Raise it if your bank's merchant names are so short that different merchants get mixed up. Most accounts never need this changed.

Your bank sends the same transaction again with different details

Some banks re-issue transactions with new identifiers, or change the dates or reference text on a transaction they already sent. Synci's built-in matching compares several fields, such as amount, currency, dates, counterparty names and references, to recognize these. If your bank changes exactly the fields Synci relies on, duplicates can slip through. See Fields for duplicate filtering below.

The same bank is connected twice

If you added a bank again instead of renewing its consent, you have two connections fetching the same accounts. When both copies of an account are linked to the same destination, every transaction is sent twice.

Keep one connection and delete the other, or pause the extra link on the Linked Accounts page. Next time a consent expires, renew it on the existing connection instead of adding the bank again. Renewing keeps your transaction history. Each connection also counts toward your plan, so it's worth removing the extra one.

Settings that prevent duplicates

All of these are per account. Open the account under Sources in the sidebar and go to its Settings tab.

In the Advanced section

• Match settlements with changed amounts: Default (enabled), Enabled or Disabled.

• Settlement match window: how many days apart a pending transaction and its booked version can be (1 to 14, default 7). Shown while settlement matching is on.

• Match re-worded counterparty names: Default (enabled), Enabled or Disabled.

• Re-worded name minimum match (characters): 1 to 60, default 6. Shown while re-worded name matching is on.

• Fields for duplicate filtering: the transaction fields Synci compares when deciding whether a new transaction is one it already has. If all the selected fields are identical, the new transaction is treated as a duplicate and ignored.

In the Sync section

Sync pending transactions controls whether Synci fetches transactions before your bank has booked them. If the matching settings above don't solve your duplicates, turn it off. Transactions will then only arrive once your bank books them, and no pending copy is ever stored. Pending transactions that Synci stored before you turned it off are still matched to their booked versions.

Whether this setting starts on or off depends on your bank. Some banks don't provide pending transactions at all: see Pending transactions are not being synced.

Remove duplicates that already reached your destination

Changing these settings prevents new duplicates, but it doesn't remove copies that were already sent. To remove them, undo the transfer of the extra copy:

1. Go to Transactions and click the duplicate transaction.

2. Open its Transfer Logs tab.

3. Click Undo next to the transfer and confirm.

Synci deletes that transaction from the destination it was sent to. To clean up many at once, open the linked account, go to its Transfer Logs tab, select the transfers, and choose Actions > Undo all transfers.

Still seeing duplicates?

If the duplicates come from your bank's own data, for example the bank keeps sending the same transaction with different details that no setting can match, try renewing the connection's consent. If that doesn't help, you can add the bank as a new connection, link its accounts, and delete the old connection afterwards so the bank isn't connected twice.

If none of this works, contact us through Support in the sidebar and tell us which account and transactions are affected. Learn more about how Synci handles pending and booked transactions in Transactions.