Transactions submitted with Merchant Descriptions must conform to content formatting requirements from Visa, MasterCard and network processors in order to avoid the rejection of the transaction. Generally, the safest option is to leave the entire description blank. In this way, the default description will be used by the processor to describe the transaction. The default description is recorded in various setup files used by Visa, MasterCard and the processor. The cardholder's statement from the issuing bank will include this description.
Many merchants include specific details in the transaction description to inform the cardholder of the nature of the charge. If formatted correctly, this information may be appreciated by the cardholder and many times prevent customer service calls thereby reducing the merchants customer support costs.
The description is limited to 40 characters which usually contain the merchant name, city or phone number, and the state abbreviation. The first 25 characters contain the merchant name and are not examined for validity except that the first position cannot be blank. Some merchants include additional identifying information in this space, such as the ANI or originating phone number. These are examples for the 25-character name space:
1-----------------------|<-25|<-26---------|<-35
COMPANY NAME (blanks)
ORANGEBYTE.COM (blanks)
XYZ* 1CALL FROM9871234
ABC* 1CALL FROM5454545
The next 10 characters are for the city or customer service phone number. The first character of this field, position 26, cannot be blank. When the phone number is included, the field must begin with a number and NOT include dashes as follows: 9999999999. These are some examples:
26-----------|<-35
DALLAS
SAN FRANCISCO
8008881234
7896549878
These are samples of the complete 35-character merchant description:
BLIND VISIONS INC. 8008881234
ABC* 1CALL FROM5454545 8889991111
TranID 123456789123456 amazon.com
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