When residents make a payment, they’ll see a line item on their bank or card statement, which is called a payment descriptor. This article explains what that descriptor is, how it’s set, and what your residents can expect to see.
What is a Payment Descriptor?
A payment descriptor (sometimes also called a statement or billing descriptor) is the short line of text that appears on your residents’ statements to identify a transaction with your business. It helps them identify the charge as legitimate and understand who it came from.
For Card Payments
Card brand rules (such as Visa or Mastercard) require clear descriptors. For debit or credit cards, the payment descriptor your residents will see on their card statements is “RF ” followed by the DBA Name you supplied on your onboarding form. Please note that only the first 16 characters (including spaces) of your DBA Name will be shown on the billing descriptor. For example, if the DBA name is “Jefferson City Recreation Center”, then the payment descriptor on your customers’ card statement will show up as “RF Jefferson City R”. In addition to the descriptor, your customer’s bank may also show the city and state, phone number, or website.
For ACH or Bank Transfers
For ACH payments (bank transfers), the payment descriptor your customers or residents will see on their bank statements is structured as follows: DBA Name followed by 8 alphanumeric characters (reference number established by our platform) and ends with a “-p” or “-r” (p is used for payment made by your customers and r is used for any refunds debited from your account). For example, if the DBA Name is “Jefferson City Recreation Center”, then the payment descriptor on your customer’ bank statement will show up as either “Jefferson City Recreation Center UxhzthhT-p” or “Jefferson City Recreation Center xGAqbrS9-r”.
What if Customers Don’t Recognize a Charge?
Unclear descriptors can lead to confusion or chargebacks. To prevent this:
Ensure you list the correct DBA Name on the Onboarding form, which is also recognizable by the residents
Let residents know what to expect on their statements
Make sure your team is aware of how descriptors appear so they can help field questions