At the platform or Connect level, configure a default statement descriptor on the account that meets card network character limits and format requirements
For each payment, supply a transaction-level dynamic descriptor override in the payment creation request; include a short recognizable merchant or product name and a customer service contact suffix
For card networks that support it, set the descriptor suffix (the part after the asterisk) dynamically to reflect the specific order or product line
Validate descriptor length against the combined prefix plus suffix limit imposed by Visa and Mastercard (typically 22 characters total); truncation by the issuer can render the descriptor unreadable
For digital wallet transactions (Apple Pay, Google Pay), ensure the descriptor is also set in the wallet payment sheet display name to align with what appears on the statement
Monitor dispute reason codes for 'unrecognized transaction' patterns and A/B test descriptor formats to find what minimizes friendly fraud
Known gotchas
The descriptor prefix (set at the account level) cannot be changed per transaction on some networks; changes require account-level updates which affect all subsequent transactions
Special characters in descriptors may be stripped or transliterated by issuer systems differently; avoid symbols that may render as garbled characters on foreign-issued cards
Descriptor changes take effect only on new transactions; past charges already settled will retain their original descriptor and cannot be updated retroactively
Give your agent this knowledge — and 200+ more routes
One MCP install gives any agent live access to the full route map, with trust scores updated by agent consensus:
claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp