diff --git a/backend/src/app.controller.ts b/backend/src/app.controller.ts
index 22f2b73..8f8d114 100644
--- a/backend/src/app.controller.ts
+++ b/backend/src/app.controller.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,23 @@ import { Controller, Get } from '@nestjs/common';
 
 @Controller()
 export class AppController {
+  /**
+   * GET /api — bare root of the API.
+   * Handles requests that omit the trailing slash so nginx's `location /api/`
+   * block (which requires a trailing slash) doesn't fall through to the Vite
+   * frontend proxy.  Also gives New Relic and health checkers a real 200 rather
+   * than a 404 that would register as a phantom transaction.
+   */
+  @Get()
+  getRoot() {
+    return {
+      status: 'ok',
+      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+      service: 'hoa-financial-platform',
+    };
+  }
+
+  /** GET /api/health — explicit named health endpoint for uptime monitors */
   @Get('health')
   getHealth() {
     return {
diff --git a/backend/src/app.module.ts b/backend/src/app.module.ts
index 3e8c30b..1f0d4a1 100644
--- a/backend/src/app.module.ts
+++ b/backend/src/app.module.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { TenantMiddleware } from './database/tenant.middleware';
 import { WriteAccessGuard } from './common/guards/write-access.guard';
 import { CapabilityGuard } from './common/guards/capability.guard';
 import { NoCacheInterceptor } from './common/interceptors/no-cache.interceptor';
+import { NewRelicTransactionInterceptor } from './common/interceptors/newrelic-transaction.interceptor';
 import { AuthModule } from './modules/auth/auth.module';
 import { OrganizationsModule } from './modules/organizations/organizations.module';
 import { UsersModule } from './modules/users/users.module';
@@ -109,6 +110,10 @@ import { ScheduleModule } from '@nestjs/schedule';
       provide: APP_INTERCEPTOR,
       useClass: NoCacheInterceptor,
     },
+    {
+      provide: APP_INTERCEPTOR,
+      useClass: NewRelicTransactionInterceptor,
+    },
   ],
 })
 export class AppModule implements NestModule {
diff --git a/backend/src/common/interceptors/newrelic-transaction.interceptor.ts b/backend/src/common/interceptors/newrelic-transaction.interceptor.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..71adeaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/common/interceptors/newrelic-transaction.interceptor.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { Injectable, NestInterceptor, ExecutionContext, CallHandler } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { Observable } from 'rxjs';
+import { Request } from 'express';
+
+/**
+ * Sets a meaningful New Relic transaction name for every HTTP request.
+ *
+ * Without this, NestJS's setGlobalPrefix('api') causes the New Relic Express
+ * instrumentation to group ALL requests under the generic bucket
+ * "Expressjs/GET/api$" (the compiled regex for the global prefix router),
+ * making per-endpoint APM data completely blind.
+ *
+ * This interceptor runs after NestJS routing (so req.route is populated with
+ * the matched pattern, e.g. "/api/accounts/:id") and calls newrelic.setTransactionName()
+ * to override the auto-detected name with "METHOD /route/pattern".
+ *
+ * Gracefully no-ops when:
+ *  - NEW_RELIC_ENABLED is not 'true' (dev / CI)
+ *  - newrelic package is not installed
+ *  - The NR agent fails to load for any reason
+ */
+
+let newrelic: any;
+try {
+  if (process.env.NEW_RELIC_ENABLED === 'true') {
+    // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-require-imports
+    newrelic = require('newrelic');
+  }
+} catch {
+  // Package not installed in this environment — skip instrumentation silently
+}
+
+@Injectable()
+export class NewRelicTransactionInterceptor implements NestInterceptor {
+  intercept(context: ExecutionContext, next: CallHandler): Observable<any> {
+    if (newrelic) {
+      const req = context.switchToHttp().getRequest<Request>();
+      // req.route.path is the Express matched route template (e.g. "/api/accounts/:id").
+      // Falls back to req.path (the actual URL) for unmatched requests so even
+      // 404s get a useful name like "GET /api/unknown-path" instead of "Expressjs/GET/api$".
+      const route: string = (req.route as any)?.path ?? req.path;
+      newrelic.setTransactionName(`${req.method} ${route}`);
+    }
+    return next.handle();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/nginx/default.conf b/nginx/default.conf
index 6f921b3..019417f 100644
--- a/nginx/default.conf
+++ b/nginx/default.conf
@@ -10,6 +10,22 @@ server {
     listen 80;
     server_name localhost;
 
+    # Exact match for bare /api (no trailing slash).
+    # nginx's `location /api/` below requires a trailing slash, so a request for
+    # GET /api would fall through to the Vite proxy, which then forwards it to
+    # the backend — arriving as an unmatched path that New Relic registers as
+    # the phantom "Expressjs/GET/api$" transaction bucket.
+    # This exact-match block catches it first and proxies it directly to the
+    # backend, where AppController's @Get() handler returns a clean 200.
+    location = /api {
+        proxy_pass http://backend;
+        proxy_http_version 1.1;
+        proxy_set_header Host $host;
+        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
+        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
+    }
+
     # API requests -> NestJS backend
     location /api/ {
         proxy_pass http://backend;