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What Is This Charge on My Credit Card?
Paste the line exactly as it appears on your statement — codes, dates and all. Find possible merchant or payment-code interpretations, check the evidence, and compare the result with your original account records.
Try it: AMZN MKTP · FENIX INTERNET · CSC SERVICEWORKS · PAI ISO
Entries list references and evidence status; many still await claim-level review. Independent — not affiliated with any company listed. How we verify · Learn how statements work
Statement — July Amount
→ that one's the laundry machines in your building
The usual suspects
Commonly Decoded Credit Card Charges
Descriptor forensics
Why Do Bank Statement Charges Look Like Gibberish?
REASON 01
22 characters, no mercy
Card networks give merchants a name field roughly 22 characters long. Real names get amputated into initials and codes that only make sense once you know the trick.
VALVOLINE INSTANT OIL CHANGE → VIOC LB0134
See the VIOC page →REASON 02
The middleman signs the receipt
Millions of small businesses run cards through Square, Toast, or Paddle. Your statement names the processor first — the actual seller is squeezed in after an asterisk.
SQ *BLU BTL COF · TST* HG HOLDINGS
Decode the SQ * prefix →REASON 03
Companies bill under names you've never heard
OnlyFans bills as Fenix Internet. Your building's laundry room bills as CSC ServiceWorks. ACHMA VISB is a recorded bank descriptor whose merchant identity remains unconfirmed here. None of this is on purpose to help you.
FENIX INTERNET LLC · ACHMA VISB
See who's behind Fenix →Browse the ledger
Browse Unknown Charges by Category
When nothing matches
Disputing Unauthorized Credit Card Charges
Most "fraud" turns out to be a forgotten trial, a spouse's subscription, or a truncated name. But when it's real, speed matters. The playbook covers the whole process — including your actual legal rights on debit vs. credit disputes.
Read the playbook- Search your email for the exact amount — receipts usually beat memory.
- Ask everyone with card access, including the app-store family plan.
- Contact the merchant behind the descriptor — refunds there take days, disputes take weeks.
- Still nothing? Lock the card and call your bank — 60-day dispute windows apply.
The Unknown Charge Lookup Tool
How to Identify an Unknown Charge on Your Credit Card
When you look at your monthly statement and think, "what is this charge on my credit card," compare the descriptor with your receipts and account history. An unfamiliar statement label can describe a purchase you recognize, but it can also require an issuer inquiry. Our credit card merchant lookup tool offers possible interpretations and their evidence status. A lookup match alone does not identify who authorized a charge.
What Are Bank Charges and Payment Descriptors?
A payment descriptor (or billing descriptor) is the text that appears on your bank or credit card statement to identify a transaction. Card networks restrict this field to around 22 characters. Consequently, businesses often use acronyms, store numbers, or the name of their payment processor instead of their recognizable storefront name. For instance, an Amazon unknown charge might appear as AMZN MKTP, or a small business might use SQ* for a Square payment.
Our registry collects descriptor interpretations and reference links across subscriptions, retailers and payment rails. A search result is a candidate explanation, not proof of who billed your account. Read its evidence status: many legacy entries still await claim-level source review. Compare the exact statement line, amount and date with your receipt and issuer records.
Common Sources of Unknown Transactions
Before panicking over a suspicious charge, consider the most frequent culprits behind an unknown payment:
- Payment Processors: Middlemen like Square, PayPal, or Stripe often prepend their initials (e.g., SQ* or PP*).
- Parent Companies: You might buy from a local boutique, but the transaction description reflects the parent LLC.
- Subscriptions and Free Trials: A small unknown charge is often a forgotten subscription auto-renewing.
- Digital Wallets: An unknown charge from Facebook or Apple might be a digital purchase made by a family member sharing your account.
Use our transaction lookup to cross-reference these scenarios and find a candidate interpretation. If your search doesn't match a known descriptor, browse the full ledger by category or check the prefix and bank hubs.
Disputing Unauthorized Credit Card and Debit Card Charges
A matching descriptor is a clue, not proof of authorization. If you did not authorize a payment, contact your issuer promptly. Credit billing-error rules can require written notice received within 60 days after the first statement showing the error was sent. Debit error notice and lost-card liability rules differ. Confirm the requirements for your account through the issuer’s official process.
Steps to Resolve an Unknown Transaction
- Search the exact text: Paste the exact statement text into our charge lookup tool at the top of the page.
- Review your receipts: Cross-reference the amount and date with your email receipts to jog your memory.
- Check with family: Ask authorized users if they recognize the purchase, especially on shared accounts.
- Contact the merchant: If the merchant search reveals a legitimate business you recognize but didn't authorize a purchase from, contacting them directly is often faster than a bank dispute.
- File a dispute: If it is truly an unauthorized credit card charge, lock your card and call your bank's fraud department immediately. Read the unknown-charge playbook for a full walkthrough.
Quick answers
Frequently Asked Questions About Credit Card Charges & Subscriptions
What is this charge on my credit card?
An unrecognized charge on your credit card or bank statement usually stems from a parent company billing under a different corporate name, a payment processor prefix (like SQ*, TST*, or AMZN MKTP), a forgotten recurring subscription, or a temporary authorization hold. Paste the exact statement line into our lookup tool above to find possible interpretations and their evidence notes.
Why do I have an Adobe charge on my credit card?
An unexpected Adobe charge (such as ADOBE *PHOTOG, ADOBE *CREATIVE, or ADOBE 800-833-6687) typically occurs when a free trial converts into an annual subscription billed monthly, a plan auto-renews, or a secondary user on your account licensed stock assets. You can review active subscriptions at account.adobe.com/plans or see our Adobe charge guide.
How to dispute a credit card charge?
Report unauthorized payments promptly through your issuer’s official channel. For covered credit-card billing errors, written notice generally must reach the issuer within 60 days after the first statement showing the error was sent. Ask your issuer for its billing-inquiries address and applicable notice requirements. See the billing-error guide and letter template.
What is a charge off on a credit card?
A credit card charge off occurs when a creditor writes off a delinquent balance as an uncollectible accounting loss, typically after 180 consecutive days without payment. A charge off does not erase the legal obligation to pay: the card issuer may assign or sell the account to a third-party debt collection agency. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a charged-off account remains on credit bureau files for up to 7 years from the date of the original delinquency.
What is a charge card vs credit card?
Charge cards traditionally require the balance to be paid in full each month; credit cards generally permit revolving balances subject to their agreement. Some modern charge-card products offer pay-over-time features, and no preset spending limit does not mean unlimited spending. Read the terms of the specific card.
Can you dispute a debit card charge?
Regulation E permits oral or written notice of electronic-transfer errors, generally within 60 days after the first statement showing the error was sent. Lost or stolen cards involve separate liability rules. Report promptly and ask the bank about notice, written confirmation and conditional provisional-credit requirements.
How long do charge-offs stay on your credit report?
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a charge-off stays on your credit report for up to 7 years from the date of initial delinquency (the first missed payment that led to the default). Paying or settling the charged-off balance updates the entry status to Paid or Settled Charge-Off, but does not reset or extend the 7-year removal date.
How to cancel Adobe subscription?
To cancel an Adobe subscription: (1) Sign in to account.adobe.com/plans. (2) Select Manage Plan on your active subscription. (3) Click Cancel your plan and choose a reason. (4) Review any early cancellation fee disclosures for annual plans paid monthly, then confirm cancellation. You can also generate formal notice with our cancellation generator.
How to cancel subscription on iPhone?
To cancel an Apple-billed subscription on iPhone: (1) Open the Settings app. (2) Tap your name (Apple ID) at the top. (3) Tap Subscriptions. (4) Tap the active subscription you wish to terminate. (5) Tap Cancel Subscription (or Cancel Free Trial) and confirm. Service continues until the end of the current billing period. See our Apple billing reference.
How to cancel ChatGPT subscription?
Use the billing channel that sold the subscription. For a subscription purchased on the web, open ChatGPT Settings, select Billing, then Cancel under Cancel plan. Apple- or Google-billed subscriptions must be managed through that store. Check the current OpenAI instructions and the registry entry.
How to cancel Canva subscription?
To cancel a Canva Pro or Canva Teams subscription: (1) Log in to canva.com on desktop or mobile browser. (2) Click the Gear icon (Account settings) in the top-right corner. (3) Select Billing & plans from the sidebar. (4) Next to your active plan, click More actions (...) and select Cancel subscription. (5) Confirm the cancellation steps. See our Canva charge reference.
How to cancel Fubo subscription?
To cancel a Fubo (FuboTV) subscription: (1) Sign in at fubo.tv on a web browser. (2) Click your profile icon and select My Account. (3) Select Subscription & Billing. (4) Scroll to the bottom and click Cancel Subscription. (5) Click Complete Cancellation and select a reason. See our Fubo charge reference.
How to cancel Hulu subscription?
To cancel a Hulu subscription: (1) Go to hulu.com/account and log in. (2) Scroll down to the Your Subscription section. (3) Click Cancel next to Cancel Your Subscription. (4) Select Continue to Cancel to bypass temporary pause promotions. (5) Select a cancellation reason and confirm. See our Hulu charge reference.