What Are Statement Descriptors? Its Type and Setup Guide

When you make a purchase using your credit or debit card, the merchant’s name and location appear on your statement. This is called the “statement descriptor”.

Statement descriptors help you identify which charges come from which merchants, and can also help resolve discrepancies between what you were expecting to be charged and what actually appears on your statement.

Some statement descriptors are very straightforward, such as “Uber” or “Starbucks”. Others may be a little more cryptic, such as “AMZN Mktp US*Marketplace PMTS” (this is the statement descriptor for charges made through Amazon Marketplace).

If you’re not sure what a particular statement descriptor means, you can always contact the merchant directly and ask them.

There are two types of statement descriptors: Level 1 and Level 2.

Level 1 statement descriptors include the name and location of the merchant, as well as a brief description of the transaction.

Level 2 statement descriptors include all of the information in a Level 1 descriptor, plus additional details such as the invoice number, product code, and tax amount.

Not all merchants support Level 2 statement descriptors. If you’re not sure whether a particular merchant supports Level 2 descriptors, you can always contact them directly to ask.

To set up a statement descriptor, you’ll need to provide the following information to your payment processor:

The name of the merchant

The location of the merchant

A brief description of the transaction

If you’re setting up a Level 2 descriptor, you’ll also need to provide:

The invoice number

The product code

The tax amount

Once you have all of the necessary information, you can provide it to your payment processor and they will take care of the rest.

If you have any further questions about statement descriptors or need help setting one up, feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to assist you.