Let's get you set up

Your key is in your email, whether you're on the free trial or bought a license. Follow these steps to have Bridge Bank running and syncing your bank transactions into Actual Budget.

Create a free Enable Banking account

Enable Banking is the regulated open banking provider that Bridge Bank uses to connect to your bank. You need a free account — no credit card required.

Go to enablebanking.com and sign up.

Once logged in, go to API applications and click Register new application. Fill in the form as follows:

Mode: select Production, not Sandbox

Application name: Bridge Bank

Allowed redirect URLs: https://bridgebank.app/callback

Application description: Connect Actual Budget with my bank

Email for data protection matters: your email address

Privacy URL: https://bridgebank.app/privacy

Terms URL: https://bridgebank.app/terms

Click Register. A .pem file will be automatically downloaded to your Downloads folder. The filename will match your Application ID (e.g. aaaaaaaa-bbbb-cccc-dddd-eeeeeeeeeeee.pem). Keep this file safe — you'll need it in the setup wizard.

Choose the mode before you register. Enable Banking asks for it at the top of the form, and the choice is permanent: applications cannot be moved between Sandbox and Production afterwards. A Sandbox application only returns simulated test data, so it will never connect to your real bank. If you already registered one in Sandbox by mistake, just register a second application in Production and use that one.

Activate by linking your bank account

Click Activate by linking accounts on your application page. Select your country and bank, click Link, and follow your bank's login flow to approve read-only access.

Important: You must add each bank here in Enable Banking first, before connecting it in Bridge Bank. If you want to connect multiple banks, add them all here first.

Seeing a consent of only 1 day? That's expected. This step is Enable Banking's own consent, used only to activate your application. The connection that actually syncs is made later inside Bridge Bank, which asks your bank for up to 180 days. Its expiry date shows next to each account on Bridge Bank's Bank page.

Install Bridge Bank

You'll need Docker Desktop installed. Docker Desktop works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Bridge Bank also works on Raspberry Pi and other ARM devices.

mkdir -p ~/bridge-bank/data && cd ~/bridge-bank
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DAdjadj/bridge-bank/main/docker-compose.yml
docker compose up -d

mkdir bridge-bank\data; cd bridge-bank
curl.exe -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DAdjadj/bridge-bank/main/docker-compose.yml
docker compose up -d

Port

Bridge Bank runs on port 3002 by default. Change it below if that port is already in use.

If you changed the port, run this to apply:

docker compose up -d

Using Portainer?

Go to Stacks → Add stack, name it bridge-bank, select Web editor and paste:

services:
  bridge-bank:
    image: daalves/bridge-bank:latest
    container_name: bridge-bank
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
    ports:
      - "3002:3000"

Click Deploy the stack, then continue to the next step.

Open Bridge Bank and complete setup

Enter your server address below to open Bridge Bank. The setup wizard will guide you through the rest: license key, Actual Budget connection, Enable Banking key upload, notifications, and bank connection.

In Actual Budget, create a plain account and nothing more. Before you start the wizard, add an account in Actual for each bank (for example "Revolut") and leave it unlinked: don't set up bank sync, Enable Banking or GoCardless inside Actual. Bridge Bank makes the bank connection itself, and if Actual is also linked to the bank, every transaction comes in twice. The wizard asks for this account's name, which must match Actual exactly.

Your server address

Enter your server's IP address or hostname. Change the port if you modified it in docker-compose.yml.

Multiple bank accounts

Bridge Bank supports connecting up to 2 bank accounts by default. Each bank syncs to a different Actual Budget account (e.g. Revolut → "Revolut", N26 → "N26").

To add a second bank, go to the Bank tab in the setup wizard after connecting your first bank.

Need more than 2? You can purchase additional bank account slots for €10 each from the Status page inside the app.

End-to-end encryption

If you have end-to-end encryption enabled in Actual Budget, enter your encryption password in the setup wizard when connecting to Actual Budget. This is separate from your regular Actual Budget password.

If you don't use end-to-end encryption, leave the field blank — everything works the same as before.