Billing descriptor

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A billing descriptor refers to how a company's name appears on a credit card statement and is established when the merchant account is created. It is intended for credit card customers to identify the recipient of a payment for a specific transaction.{{cite web |url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/how-a-bad-billing-descriptor-can-cost-you/454954 |title=Online Merchants Are Losing Significant Revenue With This Billing Mistake — Are You Guilty? |date=October 10, 2023 |publisher=Entrepreneur }}

Typically, the billing descriptor uses the business's trading name rather than its legal name to ensure easy recognition by the customer. In some cases, a soft or dynamic descriptor may be used, incorporating the name of the service provided. This approach is commonly employed by large companies offering multiple services, where the service brand is more familiar to customers than the company's name itself.

Choosing a clear billing descriptor is crucial for merchants to prevent chargebacks, as it helps customers recognize and associate the transaction with the intended recipient.{{cite news |url=https://ffnews.com/newsarticle/paytech/over-half-of-consumers-find-billing-statement-descriptions-confusing-costing-uk-merchants-millions-in-chargebacks/ |title=Over Half of Consumers Find Billing Statement Descriptions Confusing—Costing UK Merchants Millions in Chargebacks |date=October 8, 2024 |publisher=Fintech Finance News }}