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JustiFi Merchant Support

Statement Descriptors

Paige Miller
  • Updated

When a cardholder makes a purchase through a JustiFi-powered merchant, a descriptor appears on their bank statement or banking app identifying the charge. This article explains how that descriptor is set, why it may vary across banks, and what to do if it looks unexpected.

How JustiFi Sets the Statement Descriptor

JustiFi uses the merchant's DBA (Doing Business As) name as the statement descriptor sent to banks and card issuers. There is a 22 character limit in total. Cardholders will see this formatted as: JFI*MERCHANT NAME

Note
The "JFI*" prefix cannot be removed from the statement descriptor. This requirement is set by our banking partners, and card brands, and applies to all transactions.

Why does descriptor include additional information?

Banks and card issuers often pull additional fields from the transaction or merchant record into the descriptor — such as the merchant's city, state, or phone number. The exact fields used vary by bank, so the descriptor may look slightly different depending on which institution the cardholder uses.

Friendly descriptors

Some banks and card issuers display a "friendly" descriptor instead of the DBA-based statement descriptor. These are alternate merchant names that the bank has mapped to a recognizable business name, intended to help cardholders identify charges and reduce disputes.

While well-intentioned, friendly descriptors can sometimes cause confusion — especially if the name shown doesn't match what the cardholder or merchant expects. The naming conventions used to generate friendly descriptors are not consistent across banks or card issuers.

Important
JustiFi does not control how banks and card issuers create or map friendly descriptors. If a merchant name is displaying incorrectly, the card issuer must correct the name mapping on their end.


American Express pending charges

American Express uses different naming conventions for charges that are still pending. Rather than pulling the DBA as the statement descriptor, Amex may display limited or different merchant information while a charge is in a pending state.

Once the charge has settled with the cardholder's bank, the American Express statement will update with more complete and accurate merchant details.

What to do if a descriptor looks wrong

  • If the charge is still pending on Amex — wait for the charge to settle. The descriptor will update automatically once the transaction clears.
  • If a friendly descriptor is showing an incorrect merchant name — the cardholder should contact their card issuer directly. The issuer is responsible for correcting the name mapping on their end.
  • If you have questions about your DBA or how it's configured in JustiFi — contact JustiFi support for assistance.

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