A billing descriptor is the business name or text that appears next to a charge on your customer's credit card or bank statement. It should be recognizable and specific enough to identify your business, so customers understand a charge when they see it on their statement.
Note: Payment processors may use different labels for the same general concept, such as billing descriptor, statement descriptor, or customer statement name. In this article, we’ll refer to all of these as the billing descriptor.
Before you start
In this guide, you will be able to:
Understand what makes a descriptor specific enough for enrollment
Find your billing descriptor in Shopify Payments, Stripe, or another payment processor
Know what to do if you change your descriptor
Submit the descriptor in Disputifier
Understand your billing descriptor
Why does Disputifier need your billing descriptor?
Disputifier needs your billing descriptor to enroll your business in Ethoca and CDRN, which use descriptors to match transactions to the correct merchant.
If a descriptor is too generic, it may be harder to distinguish your business from others. This can affect alert triggering, and in some cases alerts meant for another merchant could be matched to you (or yours to them).
A descriptor isn't too generic just because it describes what you sell, the problem is wording too broad to reliably identify your business. For example:
MY STORE - could apply to almost any merchant
ONLINE STORE - describes the type of business, not which one made the charge
STUFFED ANIMALS - describes a product category, but is too broad to identify your specific brand
What to use instead
Use a billing descriptor that matches or closely resembles your website domain or brand name. This helps customers recognize charges and reduces disputes or chargebacks from unrecognized transactions.
For example, if your website is coolbottles.com, a descriptor such as COOLBOTTLES or COOLBOTTLES.COM is easier to associate with your business than a generic one such as BOTTLES STORE.
If your current descriptor is too generic, we may recommend updating it before enrollment.
Make sure you have the correct descriptor: Your billing descriptor may differ from your legal business name, store name, website domain, or brand name. For example, Green Leaf Tea may appear as GREENLEAF. Always confirm that the descriptor matches what customers actually see on their statement.
Find your billing descriptor
Find your billing descriptor in Shopify Payments
If you process payments through Shopify Payments:
Log in to your Shopify Admin Dashboard
Go to Settings in the bottom-left corner
Select Payments
Under Shopify Payments, click Manage
5. Locate the Customer billing statement section and click Edit
6. The Statement name field shows the billing descriptor
Do not confuse it with the payout statement name, which is how your payouts display on your bank statement
Find your Billing Descriptor in Stripe
If you process payments through Stripe:
Log in to your Stripe Dashboard
Go to Settings
Under Account settings open Business
4. Go to the Business details tab
5. Scroll down to find the Statement descriptor field
If you use another processor or can't find your descriptor
The location of the billing descriptor varies by provider. If you can't find it in your account, try any of the following:
Check your payment processor's business or statement settings.
Review a completed transaction on a card statement.
Make a test purchase from your own store using a card you control, then check how the charge appears once it posts.
Contact your payment processor and ask: "What is the billing descriptor that appears on my customers' credit card or bank statements?"
Confirm the exact descriptor before submitting it to Disputifier.
A pending transaction may not always display exactly the same information as the finalized charge. When possible, confirm the descriptor from your processor settings or a completed transaction.
Submit your billing descriptor
How to submit your billing descriptor
Once you confirm your billing descriptor, follow these steps to submit it and start Ethoca and CDRN enrollment:
In your Disputifier dashboard, click the Chargeback Alerts tab in the left sidebar
Click on Chargeback Alerts
3. In the Ethoca box, click Configure
4. In the window that opens, enter your billing descriptor in the Enter Descriptor field
5. Leave the Enter Descriptor Variation(s) field blank. The Disputifier team will add the appropriate variations when enrolling your billing descriptor
6. Leave Starts with descriptor matching selected unless the Disputifier team has instructed you otherwise
7. No additional information is required in the remaining fields
8. Select Submit
9. Repeat these steps in the CDRN box
Submitting your billing descriptor starts enrollment separately for Ethoca and CDRN, which can take approximately 1–3 business days (excluding weekends and US holidays)
Common scenarios
Review the situations below to find the guidance that applies to you.
I changed my billing descriptor
If you recently rebranded or changed your billing descriptor, make sure the new descriptor is enrolled as soon as possible to help maintain your alert coverage.
1. Update your descriptor with your payment processor first
Before updating anything in Disputifier, make sure your billing descriptor has been changed directly with your payment processor. Disputifier does not change the descriptor that appears on your customers' credit card or bank statements.
2. Confirm the new descriptor
Once the change has been completed, confirm the exact descriptor that appears on your customers' credit card or bank statements. We recommend verifying the new value before submitting it for enrollment, even small differences in spelling, spacing, or formatting can affect alert matching.
3. Submit the appropriate descriptor(s)
Enrolling in Ethoca and CDRN for the first time and recently changed your descriptor: Submit both your previous and new billing descriptors. Enter them in the Enter Descriptor field separated by a comma:
OLD DESCRIPTOR, NEW DESCRIPTOR(see How to submit your billing descriptor).Your previous descriptor has already been enrolled and you recently changed it: Submit only your new billing descriptor. Your existing descriptor should remain enrolled to help cover older transactions.
As when you first enrolled, complete the submission separately for Ethoca and CDRN.
Keeping coverage after a descriptor change
When your billing descriptor changes, we typically keep the previous descriptor enrolled. Transactions processed before the change remain associated with the old descriptor and may still be disputed later, so keeping both descriptors enrolled helps maintain coverage for:
Previous transactions processed under the old descriptor
New transactions processed under the updated descriptor
The previous descriptor is only disabled when:
It's causing matching or routing issues, or
You specifically request that it be removed
I have multiple stores or multiple MIDs/processors
Each store should use its own unique billing descriptor. If you are opening a duplicate, replicated, or additional store, do not reuse the same descriptor from an existing store.
The same recommendation applies when one store has multiple MIDs or payment processors. Ideally, each MID/processor should have a distinct descriptor rather than using the same descriptor across all payment accounts.
Using the same descriptor across multiple stores or MIDs can make it harder to determine which merchant account a transaction belongs to. This can create matching conflicts and may affect how Ethoca and CDRN route eligible alerts.
If a descriptor is already enrolled for another store, Ethoca or CDRN may return an enrollment error, and the new store will not be enrolled until the descriptor is changed to a unique value.
Best practice: Use a unique, recognizable billing descriptor for each store and, when possible, for each MID or processor account within that store. Always make sure you're submitting the descriptor associated with the correct store and processor account.
The descriptor in my processor is different from what appears on a completed card statement
Use the complete descriptor associated with the card transaction as your reference. Some processors may format or display descriptors differently once a transaction reaches the cardholder's statement.
If the values are different and you're unsure which one to submit, send us a screenshot of both so our team can help confirm the correct descriptor before enrollment.
My descriptor is rejected during submission
A billing descriptor may be rejected or unable to proceed with Ethoca or CDRN enrollment for a few common reasons:
The descriptor is already enrolled under another store.
Each store should use a unique billing descriptor. If the same descriptor is already tied to another store, the new enrollment may be blocked until the descriptor is changed.The descriptor is already enrolled through another provider.
An existing enrollment with another alert provider may prevent the descriptor from being enrolled with us until the previous provider releases it.Disputifier does not have Shopify collaborator access.
For Shopify stores, active collaborator access is required to complete Ethoca and CDRN enrollment. If access is missing, enrollment cannot proceed until access is restored.Shopify subscription charges are not active.
For Shopify merchants, Disputifier subscription charges must be active before enrollment can proceed.There is no active payment method on file for a non-Shopify store.
For non-Shopify merchants, a valid payment method must be set up before Ethoca or CDRN enrollment can be completed.
You may receive an email explaining what needs to be corrected and how to fix it, and you may also see a notice in your Disputifier portal. You can reply directly to the email with the requested information or contact our Support team via chat for help resolving the issue.
If Ethoca and/or CDRN shows an error, contact our Support team. We can confirm what is blocking the enrollment and guide you through the next step.
What to expect after you submit
After you submit your billing descriptor, the alert service will show as In Progress while enrollment is being completed.
You can check the status in your Disputifier portal under the Chargeback Alerts tab. There, you'll also see an expected live date for Ethoca and/or CDRN.
Note: The expected live date is an estimate, not a guaranteed activation date. Enrollment timing can vary depending on the information submitted and whether any additional review is required.
If any issues require your attention before enrollment can be completed, we'll notify you by email and with a notice in your Disputifier portal.
Once enrollment is complete, the status will update to show the service as active, and you'll receive an email confirmation letting you know that Ethoca and/or CDRN is live.