How to Download Credit Card Transactions as a CSV (2026)

American Express

1. Log in at americanexpress.com and select your credit card account.
2. Go to “Statements & Activity” from the account menu.
3. Look for the “Download” link near the top of the transaction list.
4. Choose CSV as the file format.
5. Set your date range for the billing cycle you need.
6. Click Download.

Gotcha: Amex limits downloads to one billing cycle at a time. For a full tax year, you'll need to download 12 separate files (one per month). Upload them all when you're ready to categorize.

Chase

1. Log in at chase.com and select your credit card account.
2. Click “Download account activity” (the downward arrow icon near your transaction list). Not the statement PDF link.
3. Set your date range. Chase allows up to 12 months at a time.
4. Change the File Type dropdown to CSV. Chase defaults to QFX/Quicken format, so don't skip this step.
5. Click Download.

Gotcha: Chase defaults to QFX format, not CSV. If you download without changing the dropdown, you'll get a file your spreadsheet app can't open. Go back and switch to CSV.

Capital One

1. Log in at capitalone.com and select your credit card.
2. Navigate to your Transaction History.
3. Click “Download Transactions” near the top of the transaction list.
4. Choose CSV as the file format.
5. Set your date range.
6. Click Download.

Gotcha: The CSV download only works on the desktop website. If you're using the Capital One mobile app, you won't see the export option. Switch to a computer.

Citi

1. Log in at citibankonline.com and select your credit card.
2. Click “View Card Activity” to see your recent transactions.
3. Look for the “Export” or “Download” link. It's usually a small text link, not a prominent button.
4. Select CSV and your date range.
5. Click Export.

Gotcha: The export link is tiny and easy to miss. It's typically small text near the top-right of the transaction table, not a button. Look carefully before assuming it's not there.

Discover

1. Log in at discover.com and select your credit card.
2. Go to “Statements” and then look for “Download Activity.”
3. Choose your date range.
4. Select CSV format.
5. Click Download.

Gotcha: Don't download the PDF statement by mistake. Discover puts PDF downloads and transaction exports in the same section. You want the activity/transaction export, not the PDF statement.

Apple Card

1. Open Apple Card in the Wallet app on your iPhone, or go to card.apple.com on a computer.
2. Select the month you want to export.
3. Tap or click “Export Transactions” and choose CSV.
4. Save the file to your device.

Gotcha: Apple Card can only export one month at a time. For a full tax year, you'll need 12 separate downloads. The web interface at card.apple.com is easier than using the Wallet app if you have many months to export.

What If Your Card Isn't Listed?

The process is nearly identical at every credit card issuer. Follow this general pattern:

1. Log in to your card issuer's website (the full desktop site, not the mobile app, since export options are easier to find on desktop).
2. Select your credit card and find Transaction History or Account Activity.
3. Look for a “Download,” “Export,” or arrow icon near the transaction list. It's often a small link, not a big button.
4. Choose CSV from the format dropdown. You may also see it called “Comma Delimited,” “Spreadsheet,” or “Excel/CSV.”
5. Set your date range to cover the tax year (January 1 – December 31).
6. Click Download.

If you can't find an export option on the website, try searching your card issuer's help center for “download transactions CSV.”

Credit Card CSV vs. Bank CSV: What's Different?

Credit card CSVs and bank (checking account) CSVs look similar but have a few differences worth knowing about:

• Positive vs. negative amounts. In a checking account CSV, purchases show as negative numbers (money leaving your account). In a credit card CSV, purchases are positive (charges to your card) and payments or credits are negative. This is normal.
• Column names vary. Some issuers label columns “Description,” others use “Merchant” or “Payee.” The data is the same; only the headers differ.
• Download both for complete records. If you run a business, you likely have deductible expenses on both your checking account and your credit cards. Download CSVs from all accounts to get a complete picture for tax time.

Any decent categorization tool handles both formats automatically. You don't need to reformat anything before uploading.

Now You Have Your CSV. What Next?

If you're downloading credit card CSVs, you're probably doing it for taxes. The next step is sorting each transaction into IRS categories (Schedule C lines like advertising, supplies, or office expenses). That's the part that takes most people hours in a spreadsheet, especially when you're dealing with hundreds of transactions and cryptic merchant codes like “SQ *STAPLES 04923.”

Here are some guides that cover the next steps:

• How to Clean Up Your Bank CSV Transactions for fixing formatting issues before categorizing.
• How to Catch Up on Expenses from Bank Statements if you're behind on bookkeeping and need to reconstruct a full year.
• How to Download Bank Statement CSVs if you also need to export transactions from your checking account.

You can categorize manually, or you can upload your CSV to Categorize My Expenses and let AI sort them in a fraction of the time. It costs $39, and you review every category before anything is final.