Decode a charge

A billing descriptor is the short string of text (usually 20-25 characters) that appears on your bank statement to identify a transaction. It often includes an abbreviated merchant name, a processor prefix like SQ* or TST*, and sometimes a location or phone number.

Many small businesses use third-party payment processors like Square, Toast, or PayPal. These processors prepend their own prefix (like SQ* or TST*) to the business name. Additionally, corporations often use their legal corporate name (e.g., 'DRI*' for Digital River) instead of their storefront brand name.

Start by looking for phone numbers or URLs in the descriptor text. Next, check if the charge amount matches any recent receipts or auto-renewals. If you still can't identify it, use a descriptor lookup tool to match the cryptic text to the real merchant.

These prefixes indicate that the business used a third-party payment aggregator to process your card. 'SQ*' stands for Square, 'TST*' for Toast, and 'PAYPAL*' for PayPal. The real business name usually follows the asterisk.

The location on a billing descriptor often reflects the merchant's corporate headquarters, payment processing center, or the server location of an online store, rather than the physical location where you made the purchase.

Yes. When a charge is pending, it often shows a temporary or generic descriptor provided by the payment gateway. Once the transaction fully clears (posts) a few days later, the text usually updates to the final, more recognizable merchant name.

POS stands for Point of Sale. 'POS Debit' simply means you used your debit card to make a purchase at a physical terminal or online checkout, rather than doing an ATM withdrawal or ACH transfer.

First, identify the merchant and try to cancel through their official website. If that fails, or if the charge is completely unauthorized, contact your bank to report the card compromised and have a new card issued with a new number.