Why does my bank statement show a different name from the shop I paid?

Because the name on the line belongs to whoever holds the merchant account, not necessarily the shop. A cafe that takes payment through Square appears as "SQ *" plus whatever the owner typed at sign-up; an online store on Shopify appears with an "SP" prefix; anything bought through the App Store is "APPLE.COM/BILL" regardless of the app. The bank then adds its own prefix and card token in front, and the field width cuts off the tail. The shop is still in there — usually after the asterisk, before the suburb.

What does the asterisk in "SQ *" or "PAYPAL *" mean?

It is a delimiter between the payment processor and the merchant. Left of the asterisk is who processed the payment (Square, PayPal, Google, Microsoft, Uber); right of it is the product or seller you actually paid. Reading the two halves separately is the single most useful habit for decoding a line: the left half tells you the channel, the right half tells you the category.

What are the four digits after "CARD" on a transaction line?

The last four digits of the card that made the payment. Banks print them so you can tell which card was used when several sit on one account. If you keep one card for business and another for personal spending, those four digits are the most reliable business-or-personal signal on the whole line — more reliable than the merchant name, which is the same for both.

Why does the descriptor change between pending and posted?

A pending line is the authorisation the merchant requested at the moment you paid; the posted line is what settled, often a day or three later. Fuel pumps, hotels and hire-car desks authorise one amount and settle another, and some merchants send a placeholder descriptor first and their real trading name on settlement. Only the posted line counts. If you categorise the pending one and it changes, you have categorised a line that no longer exists.

Why do bank descriptors look so different from one country or bank to another?

Because only the payment rails are local. A card purchase is assembled the same way everywhere — scheme, merchant, city, country code — so "SQ *", "PAYPAL *", "APPLE.COM/BILL" and "AMZN Mktp" read the same in Sydney, London, Toronto or Mumbai. The rails around them are national: Australia has Osko, PayID and BPAY; the UK has Faster Payments ("FPI"), standing orders and BACS; the euro area has SEPA transfers and "SEPA-Lastschrift" debits; the US has ACH, Zelle and "PURCHASE AUTHORIZED ON"; Canada has Interac e-Transfer and pre-authorised debits; India packs a UPI payment into slash-separated tokens. Each bank then abbreviates its own way and cuts at its own field width. Learn the shape once and the vocabulary is a lookup — which is what the family tables on this page are for.

Why does the same 7-Eleven line get a different category each time?

Because a 7-Eleven descriptor is identical whether you bought fuel or a coffee — the store number identifies the site, not the purchase. With nothing else on the line, the amount is the only hint, so a $70 line reads as fuel and a $6 line reads as a snack. Fin shows a confidence figure for exactly this reason; on a fuel-or-snacks line it sits in the fifties, which is the signal to add a note or attach the receipt so the next one resolves with more certainty.

Is this page built from a dataset of real transactions?

No. It is built from descriptor conventions that anyone can verify against their own statement — card-scheme and processor prefixes, country- and bank-specific rail formats, store-number and truncation patterns — plus ten worked examples taken from a product screenshot on this site, showing the category Fin chose, the confidence it showed and its reasoning. The screenshot is Australian, which is why those ten rows are; the conventions are not. There are no frequencies or statistics here because there is no published resolution dataset behind the page yet. If one is published, it will be labelled as such.

Reference · 147 patterns

Bank transaction descriptors, decoded

The strings on a bank statement are built from a handful of conventions — a bank prefix, a processor, a merchant name, a location, a card token — squeezed through a short uppercase field. The card and processor conventions are the same in every country; only the payment rails change. Once you can see the parts, most lines read themselves.

Every descriptor on your statement was assembled by at least two parties who never talked to each other: the merchant (or its payment processor) chose a short name, the card scheme appended a location, and your bank wrapped the whole thing in its own prefix and card token before cutting it to fit. The result looks cryptic, but the assembly order is fixed, so the same five-step read works on almost any line.

This page lists the conventions by family — card prefixes, the transfers and fees every bank prints, the Australian rails, the international rails (UK, EU, US, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore), the processor asterisk, global platforms, Australian services and store-numbered retail, and the truncation quirks — with what each pattern usually resolves to for a sole trader or freelancer and why the hard ones are hard. Tax remarks are general: the treatment that applies to you depends on where you file.

Where this comes from

This reference is built from publicly verifiable descriptor conventions — the prefixes, delimiters and formats you can check against your own statement, in whichever country your bank sits — plus ten worked examples of how Fin resolves real lines, taken from a product screenshot on this site. The screenshot is Australian, so those ten rows and the tax reasoning quoted in them are Australian; the rest of the page is not. It contains no frequencies, rankings or accuracy figures, because a published resolution dataset is not (yet) part of it. If you spot a convention that is wrong for your bank, that is worth knowing: the conventions vary by bank and country and change over time.

How to read any descriptor in five steps

Walk the line left to right. Each step is one token, and each token was added by a different party.

Who added it
The first words are the bank's — "VISA DEBIT PURCHASE", "POS PURCHASE", "CARD PAYMENT TO", "OSKO PAYMENT TO", "FPI", "ACH DEBIT", "UPI/". They name the rail, not the merchant, and the vocabulary depends on the country. Strip them and you have the string the card scheme or payee delivered.
The delimiter
An asterisk means a processor is in front of the merchant: "SQ *", "PAYPAL *", "UBER *TRIP", "GOOGLE *". Everything left of the asterisk is the channel; everything right of it is who you paid.
The merchant token
The trading name as the merchant registered it — uppercase, sometimes abbreviated, sometimes a web address, a phone number, a handle or a person's name. Look for a trade word ("PARKING", "TOBACCO", "HOTEL") or a company suffix ("PTY L", "LTD", "LLC", "GMBH").
The location or store token
A store number ("BUNNINGS 6940", "WALMART 2213"), a city, a two-letter state or province code ("SYDNEY NS", "AUSTIN TX", "TORONTO ON") and often a country code. It says where, never what. A street name in the merchant position ("RESERVE ROAD") is usually this token with the trading name missing.
The card or reference token
"CARD 8514" or "Card xx8514" is the last four digits of the card — the best business-or-personal signal on the line. On a transfer — Osko, Faster Payments, SEPA, ACH, Interac, UPI — the free-text reference ("Invoice 1042") is the only place the purpose lives.

Worked on a real line: VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 WILSON PARKIN… — bank prefix, card token 8514, merchant "WILSON PARKING" cut at the field width, location lost to the cut. Resolves to parking; the open question is the business share, not the category.

Card-scheme and bank prefixes

The words at the front of a card line are added by your bank, not the merchant. They say which rail the payment took and which card was used — useful for splitting business and personal cards, useless for working out what you bought. The vocabulary varies by country and bank; the structure does not.

Pattern	Example	What it encodes	Usually resolves to	Why it is hard
VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD nnnn <merchant>	VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 WILSON PARKING	Bank prefix for a Visa debit-card purchase. "CARD 8514" is the last four digits of the card used. Everything after it is the merchant string from the card scheme.	Depends entirely on the merchant token that follows	The prefix eats the first 25–30 characters of a fixed-width field, so the merchant name that follows is often truncated (see "How Fin reads these").
VISA PURCHASE <merchant> / MASTERCARD PURCHASE <merchant> / MC <merchant>	—	The scheme named at the front, then the merchant. Some banks abbreviate Mastercard to "MC".	Depends on the merchant token	—
DEBIT CARD PURCHASE <merchant> / DEBIT PURCHASE	—	Generic bank wording for a debit-card purchase on either scheme, used by banks in several countries.	Depends on the merchant token	—
VIS / DEB <merchant>	—	Three-letter rail codes some UK banks put at the front of a line: "VIS" for a Visa card payment, "DEB" for a debit card, "CRD" for a card payment generally. They save characters and say nothing about the purchase.	Depends on the merchant token	—
CARD PAYMENT TO <merchant>,<amount> GBP, RATE … ON dd-mm-yyyy	—	A UK bank wording: the merchant, then the amount, currency and — for an overseas merchant — the exchange rate used, then the transaction date. The date on the line is when you paid, not when it posted.	Depends on the merchant token	—
CONTACTLESS PAYMENT TO <merchant> / TAP AND PAY / CONTACTLESS	—	A marker some banks add for a contactless (tap) transaction, including phone-wallet taps. UK banks tend to spell it out; others use a short tag.	In-person purchase; category from the merchant token	A phone-wallet tap can show the wallet name or the card scheme rather than the physical card.
POS PURCHASE <merchant> / POS DEBIT / POINT OF SALE PURCHASE	—	Point-of-sale prefixes: "POS PURCHASE" and "POS DEBIT" are common on US statements, "POINT OF SALE PURCHASE" on Canadian ones. The payment was made at a terminal, in person.	In-person purchase; category from the merchant token	In-person rules out an online subscription but says nothing about what was bought.
CHECKCARD mmdd <merchant> <city> <state>	—	A US debit-card prefix ("check card" is the older US name for a debit card). The four digits after it are the month and day of the purchase, then the merchant, city and two-letter state.	Depends on the merchant token	The date token is easy to misread as a store number.
PURCHASE AUTHORIZED ON mm/dd <merchant> <city> <state> Snnnnnnnnnnnnnnn CARD nnnn	—	A US bank format: the authorisation date first (month/day), then the merchant and location, a long authorisation reference beginning with "S" or "P", and the last four digits of the card. "RECURRING PAYMENT AUTHORIZED ON" marks a subscription on the same rail.	Depends on the merchant token; "RECURRING" flags a subscription	The reference number is longer than the merchant name and can crowd it out on a narrow display.
EFTPOS PURCHASE <merchant> / EFTPOS <merchant>	—	The payment went over the domestic eftpos network (Australia and New Zealand) rather than Visa or Mastercard — typically an in-person tap, insert or swipe at a terminal.	In-person purchase; category from the merchant token	EFTPOS lines are almost always in-person, which rules out online subscriptions but says nothing about what was bought.
INTERAC PURCHASE <merchant> / INTERAC RETAIL PURCHASE	—	A Canadian debit purchase over the Interac network — the domestic debit rail, distinct from a Visa or Mastercard debit.	In-person purchase; category from the merchant token	—
SEPA card payment / Bancontact <merchant>	—	European domestic debit rails. German banks label a domestic card payment in their own wording, which varies by bank. Netherlands lines often read "BEA" for a terminal payment.	In-person purchase; category from the merchant token	—
NETS <merchant>	—	Singapore's domestic debit network. "NETS" at the front means a terminal or QR payment from your bank account rather than a scheme card.	In-person purchase; category from the merchant token	—
<merchant> CARD nnnn / Card xx1234 / CARD ENDING nnnn	WOOLWORTHS 1234 SYDNEY NS AUS Card xx8514	The card token: the last four digits of the card that paid. Some banks place it at the end ("Card xx1234"), some near the front ("CARD 1234"), some spell it out ("CARD ENDING 1234").	Tells you which card, not what it was for	If you keep one card for business and one for personal, the four digits are the most reliable business/personal signal on the line.
ONLINE / INTERNET / MAIL ORDER / CNP markers	—	Some banks tag card-not-present purchases (web, app, phone) so you can tell them from terminal purchases.	Online purchase or subscription; category from the merchant token	The same merchant can appear with and without the marker depending on which channel you used.
PUR / PURCH / PMT / TXN	—	Abbreviations for purchase, payment and transaction used by some banks to save characters.	Category from the merchant token	—
<merchant> - <city> / <merchant> - <product>	—	Some issuers and processors use a hyphen where others use an asterisk: merchant, dash, then a city, a store or a product. Read it the same way as the asterisk — the useful half is the merchant.	Category from the merchant token	A hyphen inside a trading name ("7-ELEVEN", "E-TOLL") is not a delimiter.

Transfers, debits, deposits and fees

Lines that are not card purchases and appear, under one wording or another, on statements everywhere. The bank describes the mechanism and leaves the counterparty in a free-text reference — which is where the useful information is.

Pattern	Example	What it encodes	Usually resolves to	Why it is hard
DIRECT DEBIT <organisation> <reference> / DD <organisation>	—	The organisation pulled the money under a direct-debit authority you signed. The name is the debit user as registered with the clearing system, which can be a billing company rather than the brand. UK banks often shorten it to "DD".Tax: Often deductible to the business-use share in most jurisdictions when it relates to earning your income; usually private otherwise.	Recurring bill or subscription — insurance, gym, software, loan, phone	The registered debit user can be a parent company or a payments bureau, so the name on the line may not match the brand you signed up with.
DIRECT CREDIT <organisation> <reference> / CREDIT <organisation>	—	Money pushed into your account by an organisation — a payroll run, a platform payout, a refund, a government payment.	Income or a refund; read the sender	A refund and a payout from the same platform look the same on the line — the reference usually separates them.
PERIODICAL PAYMENT TO <name> / RECURRING TRANSFER / STANDING ORDER	—	A scheduled transfer you set up yourself, repeating on a fixed cycle. "Standing order" is the UK term; "automatic payment" the New Zealand one.Tax: Rent for a workspace is often deductible to the business-use share; a savings sweep is a transfer, not an expense.	Rent, loan repayment, savings sweep, or a regular supplier	—
TRANSFER TO / TFR / INTERNET TRANSFER / FUNDS TFER / ONLINE TRANSFER	ANZ INTERNET BANKING FUNDS TFER	A transfer you made through online or mobile banking. Abbreviations vary by bank; the destination is in the reference or the next token.Tax: A transfer between your own accounts is not income or an expense — it should net to zero, not land in a category.	Usually a move between your own accounts; sometimes a payment to a person	A transfer to your own savings account and a transfer to a contractor use the same words. The counterparty name is the only difference.
WIRE TRANSFER / WIRE IN / WIRE OUT / TELEGRAPHIC TRANSFER / TT	—	A high-value or cross-border bank transfer. US banks say "WIRE"; many others say "telegraphic transfer" or "TT". Usually accompanied by a separate fee line.Tax: Income when a client paid you; an expense when you paid a supplier; a transfer when it is your own money. The fee follows the payment.	Client income, a supplier payment, or moving your own money across borders	The sender or beneficiary name is often the only clue, and the amount may have been converted on the way.
ATM WITHDRAWAL <location> / CASH WITHDRAWAL / CASH OUT	—	Cash taken from an ATM or at a terminal. The location is the ATM site, not where you spent the cash.Tax: The withdrawal is not an expense. Anything you bought with the cash needs its own record to be substantiated.	Cash — uncategorisable on its own	The descriptor tells you where the machine was and nothing else.
ATM OPERATOR FEE / ATM WITHDRAWAL FEE / NON-NETWORK ATM FEE	—	A fee charged by the ATM owner for using a machine outside your bank network, often as a separate line.Tax: Bank fees on a business account are often deductible; on a mixed account, the business-use share.	Bank fees	—
CASH DEPOSIT / DEPOSIT <branch or ATM>	—	Cash paid into the account at a branch or a deposit-taking ATM.Tax: Cash takings are income and need a record of what they were for.	Income if it is takings; a transfer if it is your own money	—
CHEQUE DEPOSIT / CHQ nnnnnn / CHECK nnnn / CHEQUE PRESENTED	—	A cheque paid in (deposit) or one of yours cleared (presented). The number is the cheque serial. US statements spell it "CHECK".	Income or an expense — the cheque stub or invoice says which	—
SALARY / PAY / PAYROLL <employer> <reference> / DIRECT DEP	—	A wage payment. The employer name comes from their payroll system and may be an entity name rather than a trading name. US statements often say "PAYROLL" or "DIRECT DEP".Tax: Employment income is separate from business income and is usually reported through your employer's payroll reporting.	Employment income	—
INTEREST / CREDIT INTEREST / INTEREST PAID	—	Interest the bank paid you on the balance.Tax: Interest earned is generally income.	Interest income	—
ACCOUNT KEEPING FEE / MONTHLY FEE / MAINTENANCE FEE / TRANSACTION FEE	—	A charge from the bank for running the account.Tax: Often deductible on a business account; the business-use share on a mixed one.	Bank fees	—
DISHONOUR FEE / OVERDRAWN FEE / OVERDRAFT FEE / NSF FEE / RETURNED ITEM	—	A penalty line when a payment bounced or the account went below zero. "NSF" (non-sufficient funds) and "returned item" are the North American wording.Tax: Treated like other bank fees for the business-use share.	Bank fees	—
MERCHANT FEE / SETTLEMENT <terminal provider> / <acquirer> DEPOSIT	—	For a business that takes card payments: the acquirer settling your takings (credit) or charging its fee (debit).Tax: Merchant fees are usually deductible; the settlement is gross or net sales depending on how the provider reports.	Sales income (settlement) or merchant fees (fee)	—
GOVERNMENT PAYMENT / BENEFIT / TAX REFUND (credit)	—	A credit from a government agency — a benefit, a grant, or a refund of tax you overpaid. The agency name varies by country (Services Australia, HMRC, IRS, CRA, and so on).Tax: A refund of your own tax is not income. Whether a benefit or grant is taxable depends on the payment — the payment type on the line is the clue.	Government payment or tax refund	—
<tax authority> <reference> (debit)	—	A payment to a tax authority — income tax, a sales-tax remittance, an instalment. The reference is usually your payment reference with them.Tax: Tax on your own income is not a deduction. Remitting sales tax you collected is a remittance, not an expense.	Tax payment	—
PENSION / RETIREMENT CONTRIBUTION / SUPERANNUATION / <fund name>	—	A payment into a retirement fund — your own contribution or one you make for a worker. The fund name is often all that appears.Tax: Personal contributions and contributions for employees are treated differently in most systems; both need records. General guidance only — check what applies to you.	Retirement contribution	—

Australian payment rails and bank formats

The rails and bank-specific line layouts you will see on an Australian statement: Osko and PayID on the New Payments Platform, BPAY for bills, and the way CommBank, ANZ and Westpac each lay a line out. The worked examples later on this page come from an Australian screenshot, which is why this section is the most detailed of the country sections.

Pattern	Example	What it encodes	Usually resolves to	Why it is hard
OSKO PAYMENT TO <name> <reference> / OSKO DEPOSIT FROM <name>	—	A near-real-time payment over the New Payments Platform. The name is the payee or payer as their bank holds it; the reference is whatever the sender typed.Tax: Income when it comes from a client; an expense when you paid a supplier. Keep the invoice or receipt — if you are registered for GST or VAT, the bank line alone will not support an input credit.	Contractor payment, client income, rent, or a personal transfer — read the reference	The reference is free text: "Invoice 1042" is helpful, "thanks" is not. The payee name can be a person even when the business is real.
PAYID <name or email> / PAYMENT TO PAYID	—	A transfer addressed to a PayID (a phone number, email or ABN) instead of a BSB and account number.	Same as an Osko payment — read the name and reference	A PayID registered to an ABN shows the business name; one registered to a phone shows a person.
BPAY <biller code> <reference> / BPAY BILLER nnnnnn	BPAY 123456 REF 9876543210	A BPAY bill payment. The biller code identifies the organisation; the customer reference number identifies your account with them. Some banks add the biller name, some only the code.Tax: Often deductible to the business-use share in most jurisdictions when it relates to earning your income; usually private otherwise.	Bills — utilities, insurance, council, phone, tax office, subscriptions	When only the code is shown, the biller can be looked up, but the line itself does not say what the bill was for.
CENTRELINK / SERVICES AUSTRALIA <payment type>	—	A government payment from Services Australia.Tax: Some government payments are taxable and some are not; the payment type on the line is the clue.	Government payment	—
ATO <reference> (credit) / ATO BPAY <biller code> (debit)	—	A refund from the Australian Taxation Office (credit), or a payment to it, usually via BPAY (debit). The reference is your payment reference number.Tax: A refund of your own tax is not income; tax you pay on your own income is not a deduction; a remittance of tax you collected is not an expense.	Tax refund, or tax payment	—
CommBank: <merchant> <suburb> <state> AUS Card xx1234 Value Date: dd/mm/yyyy	—	CommBank appends the card token and a "Value Date" — the date the merchant settled, which can be one to three days after you paid.	Category from the merchant token	Two dates per transaction: the line date and the value date. A purchase on the 30th can settle on the 2nd and land in the next month.
ANZ: VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD nnnn <merchant> / EFTPOS <merchant>	—	ANZ puts the rail and card token first, then the merchant string.	Category from the merchant token	—
Westpac: WITHDRAWAL ONLINE nnnnnnn TFR <name> / DEBIT CARD PURCHASE <merchant>	—	Westpac describes the channel first ("WITHDRAWAL ONLINE", "WITHDRAWAL MOBILE", "DEPOSIT ONLINE"), then a receipt number, then the payee or merchant.	Transfer or purchase; category from the payee or merchant token	—

International payment rails

Every country has its own fast-payment, bill and bulk-transfer rails, and each bank abbreviates them differently. The names change; the shape is constant — a rail code, a counterparty, and a free-text reference that holds whatever the sender typed. Grouped by country below.

Pattern	Example	What it encodes	Usually resolves to	Why it is hard
UK: FASTER PAYMENT / FPI <name> / FPO <name>	—	A UK Faster Payments transfer. Banks label the inbound leg "FPI" and the outbound leg "FPO", or spell out "FASTER PAYMENT"; the name is the payee or payer, followed by the reference they typed.Tax: Income when a client paid you; an expense when you paid a supplier. Keep the invoice or receipt — if you are registered for GST or VAT, the bank line alone will not support an input credit.	Client income, a supplier payment, or a move between your own accounts — read the reference	The reference is free text and the name can be a person even when the business is real — the same trap as Osko.
UK: STANDING ORDER <name> / SO <name>	—	A fixed, repeating transfer you set up yourself — rent, a loan, a savings sweep. Often shortened to "SO".Tax: Rent for a workspace is often deductible to the business-use share; a savings sweep is a transfer.	Rent, loan repayment, savings, or a regular supplier	—
UK: BACS <name> / BGC <name> / CHAPS <name>	—	The UK bulk and high-value rails. "BACS" is the three-day bulk system used for payroll and direct debits; "BGC" (bank giro credit) is a BACS credit into your account, typically wages or a supplier paying you; "CHAPS" is a same-day high-value transfer, often a property completion or a large invoice.Tax: A BGC from an employer is employment income; from a client, business income. The rail does not change the treatment — the sender does.	Payroll or client income (BGC), bulk payment (BACS), large transfer (CHAPS)	—
EU: SEPA-Überweisung / SEPA CT <name> / IBAN <iban> / Verwendungszweck <text>	—	A SEPA credit transfer across the euro area. German-language statements say "SEPA-Überweisung" (or "Gutschrift" for an incoming one); the payer or payee IBAN often appears on its own line, and the sender's free-text reference is labelled "Verwendungszweck" (purpose).Tax: Income when a client paid you; an expense when you paid a supplier. Keep the invoice or receipt — if you are registered for GST or VAT, the bank line alone will not support an input credit.	Client income, a supplier payment, or a transfer — read the purpose line	The IBAN identifies the account, not the business; the purpose line is where the invoice number lives, if the sender typed one.
EU: SEPA-Lastschrift / SEPA DD <creditor> / Mandat <reference>	—	A SEPA direct debit. The creditor pulled the money under a mandate you signed; the line often carries the mandate reference and creditor identifier as well as the creditor name.Tax: Often deductible to the business-use share in most jurisdictions when it relates to earning your income; usually private otherwise.	Recurring bill or subscription	As with any direct debit, the creditor can be a billing company rather than the brand.
US: ACH DEBIT <company> / ACH CREDIT <company> / ACH HOLD	—	A US Automated Clearing House transfer. "ACH DEBIT" is a company pulling a payment you authorised; "ACH CREDIT" is money pushed to you — payroll, a platform payout, a client paying by bank; "ACH HOLD" is a pending debit.Tax: Income when a client or platform paid you; an expense when a supplier pulled a payment. Payroll is employment income.	Bill or subscription (debit); payroll, payout or client income (credit)	The company name is the originator as registered with the network, which can be a parent or a payments provider.
US: ZELLE PAYMENT TO <name> / ZELLE FROM <name>	—	A bank-to-bank transfer over the Zelle network, addressed by phone or email. The name is the other party's registered name.Tax: Business income or a deductible expense only if the counterparty and purpose say so; a personal transfer otherwise.	A payment to or from a person — a contractor, a client, a friend	No reference field to speak of: the name and amount are all you get.
US: VENMO <name> / CASH APP<name> / VENMO CASHOUT	—	A card or bank charge funded through Venmo or Cash App, or a withdrawal from one back to your bank. The processor name is first and the other party follows the asterisk, in the same shape as Square and PayPal.Tax: A cash-out is not income. A payment is an expense only if it was for the business and you can substantiate it.	A payment to a person or small merchant; a cash-out is a transfer of your own money	The line names the app and a person — never what was bought.
Canada: INTERAC E-TRANSFER <name>	—	A Canadian person-to-person or business transfer over Interac, addressed by email or phone. The name is the sender or recipient.Tax: Income when a client paid you; an expense when you paid a supplier. Keep the invoice or receipt — if you are registered for GST or VAT, the bank line alone will not support an input credit.	Client income, a contractor payment, or a personal transfer — read the name	—
Canada: PRE-AUTHORIZED DEBIT <organisation> / PAD	—	The Canadian direct debit: an organisation pulls a payment under a pre-authorised debit agreement you signed.Tax: Often deductible to the business-use share in most jurisdictions when it relates to earning your income; usually private otherwise.	Recurring bill or subscription	—
India: UPI/<reference>/<name or VPA>/<bank>/<remark>	—	A Unified Payments Interface transfer. Banks pack several slash-separated tokens into one line: a direction or reference, the other party's name or virtual payment address (something like name@bank), their bank, and the remark the sender typed. Order and labels vary by bank.Tax: Income when a client paid you; an expense when you paid a supplier. Keep the invoice or receipt — if you are registered for GST or VAT, the bank line alone will not support an input credit.	A merchant payment, a contractor payment, or a personal transfer — read the name and remark	A shop that takes payment on a personal VPA shows as a person; the remark is often blank or a default like "Payment from PhonePe".
India: NEFT / IMPS / RTGS <reference> <name>	—	The three Indian interbank rails: NEFT (batched), IMPS (immediate) and RTGS (real-time, high value). The reference number follows the rail code, then the counterparty.Tax: The rail says nothing about tax; the counterparty does.	Client income, a supplier payment, salary, or a transfer between your own accounts	—
India: PhonePe / Paytm / GPay / BHIM in the remark	—	The app the sender used, which often lands in the UPI remark or name field instead of a purpose. It tells you the channel, not the merchant.	Channel only — resolve from the counterparty name	Easy to categorise the app instead of the payee.
New Zealand: AP <name> / AUTOMATIC PAYMENT / BILL PAYMENT <name>	—	A New Zealand automatic payment (a fixed repeating transfer you set up) or a one-off bill payment through online banking. The particulars, code and reference fields follow.Tax: Rent for a workspace is often deductible to the business-use share; a savings sweep is a transfer.	Rent, loan, savings, or a bill — read the particulars and reference	—
Singapore: PayNow <name or mobile> / FAST <name> / GIRO <organisation>	—	Singapore's rails: PayNow is the instant transfer addressed by mobile, NRIC or UEN; FAST is the underlying interbank transfer; GIRO is the direct debit for bills.Tax: Often deductible to the business-use share in most jurisdictions when it relates to earning your income; usually private otherwise.	Client income or a supplier payment (PayNow, FAST); a recurring bill (GIRO)	A PayNow to a mobile number shows a person even when they trade as a business; a UEN shows the business.

Payment processors and marketplaces — the "*" family

When a small merchant takes payment through a processor, the processor owns the merchant account, so its name goes first and the shop is pushed behind a delimiter. The asterisk is the seam: left of it is who processed the payment, right of it is who you paid. These look the same in every country.

Pattern	Example	What it encodes	Usually resolves to	Why it is hard
SQ *<MERCHANT NAME>	SQ *THE CORNER CAFE	Square. "SQ" plus an asterisk, then the trading name the seller entered when they set up their Square account.	Whatever the merchant is — cafes, markets, tradespeople, mobile services are common Square users	The seller types their own name, so it may be a person, a nickname, or missing entirely ("SQ *"). The town usually follows.
PAYPAL *<MERCHANT>	PAYPAL *ETSY	A card payment funded through PayPal. The token after the asterisk is the PayPal account name of the seller, which can be a business or an individual.Tax: Keep the invoice or receipt — if you are registered for GST or VAT, the bank line alone will not support an input credit.	Online purchase — category from the seller name	The PayPal receipt, not the bank line, carries the item.
STRIPE / <MERCHANT> (via Stripe)	—	Stripe usually puts the merchant's own statement descriptor on the line and stays invisible; it appears by name mainly on payouts to a business that uses Stripe to get paid.	For a purchase, category from the merchant; for a credit, sales income	A merchant can set any short descriptor in Stripe, so the line may be a brand, a product, or a URL.
SP <MERCHANT>	—	Shopify Payments. "SP" then the shop name — the store is a Shopify storefront.Tax: Keep the invoice or receipt — if you are registered for GST or VAT, the bank line alone will not support an input credit.	Online retail purchase — category from the shop name	—
SUMUP *<MERCHANT>	—	Other small-merchant card readers common in Europe and the UK: SumUp, and Zettle (formerly iZettle, now part of PayPal). Same shape as Square — processor, delimiter, the seller's own name.	Whatever the merchant is — markets, cafes, tradespeople	As with Square, the name after the delimiter is whatever the seller typed.
AMZN Mktp <cc> / AMAZON.<tld> / AMAZON PRIME	—	"AMZN Mktp" is an Amazon marketplace order (a third-party seller), followed by a country code such as AU, UK, US or CA; "AMAZON.COM", "AMAZON.CO.UK", "AMAZON.DE" is Amazon selling directly; "PRIME" is the membership; "AMZN DIGITAL" is a Kindle, video or app purchase.Tax: Often deductible to the business-use share in most jurisdictions when it relates to earning your income; usually private otherwise. Amazon issues an invoice per order in your account.	Retail purchase or subscription	One descriptor covers everything Amazon sells — the order page is the only place the item lives.
AMAZON WEB SERVICES / AWS EMEA / AWS.AMAZON.CO	—	Cloud hosting billing from Amazon Web Services, distinct from the retail store. The regional entity (EMEA, Australia, and so on) may appear.Tax: Usually deductible when the hosting serves your business.	Technology — hosting	—
APPLE.COM/BILL	—	Any charge through Apple's App Store or Apple services billing — an app subscription, iCloud, Apple Music, an in-app purchase. The descriptor is identical for all of them, in every country.Tax: Deductible to the business-use share only for the apps that serve the business; Apple emails an itemised receipt.	Software subscription or personal media — cannot tell from the line	One of the least informative descriptors in common use: the same string for a work app and a game.
GOOGLE <Product> / GOOGLE Google Storage / GOOGLE *YouTubePremium	—	Google billing. The token after the asterisk names the product or the developer of a Play Store app.Tax: Often deductible to the business-use share in most jurisdictions when it relates to earning your income; usually private otherwise.	Software subscription, storage, or personal media	Play Store purchases show the developer name, not the app name.
GOOGLE WORKSPACE / GOOGLE ADS / GOOGLE CLOUD	—	Google business products: Workspace (email and Drive), advertising spend, or cloud hosting.Tax: Usually deductible when used for the business.	Technology — software subscription or hosting; Marketing — advertising	—
MSFT <Product> / MICROSOFT<Product>	—	Microsoft billing — Microsoft 365, Azure, Xbox. The product token after the asterisk separates work from play.Tax: Often deductible to the business-use share in most jurisdictions when it relates to earning your income; usually private otherwise.	Technology — software subscription (or personal gaming)	—
ADOBE *<Product> / ADOBE SYSTEMS / ADOBE INC	—	Adobe Creative Cloud or a single Adobe app.Tax: Usually deductible when it is a tool of the trade.	Technology — software subscription	—
AFTERPAY / CLEARPAY / KLARNA / ZIP / AFFIRM	—	An instalment or repayment to a buy-now-pay-later provider. Afterpay trades as Clearpay in the UK and Europe; Zip and Affirm are common in Australia and North America. The original purchase happened elsewhere and earlier.Tax: The repayment is not the expense; the original purchase is, if it was for the business.	Instalment — the underlying purchase needs its own record	The line names the lender, never the shop — and one purchase becomes several identical lines weeks apart.
EBAY <cc>	—	An eBay checkout where eBay processed the payment; a country code often follows. Some lines carry an order id after "O*".Tax: Keep the invoice or receipt — if you are registered for GST or VAT, the bank line alone will not support an input credit. Many eBay sellers are private and cannot issue one.	Marketplace purchase — category from the item, which the line does not show	—
ETSY.COM / ETSY INC	—	An Etsy order; Etsy processes payment for its sellers, billing from a regional entity.	Marketplace purchase — usually personal, sometimes craft supplies	—

Global platforms and subscriptions

Recurring and app-based merchants tend to have stable, recognisable descriptors that look the same on any statement — the easiest family to resolve, with a few traps where one platform sells several different things under one name.

Pattern	Example	What it encodes	Usually resolves to	Why it is hard
UBER *TRIP HELP.UBER.COM	—	An Uber ride. "TRIP" after the asterisk is the product; the URL is Uber's support address, used as a descriptor.Tax: Usually deductible when the trip was for work (client visit, site, airport for a work trip); commuting is usually private.	Transport — ride share	Same descriptor for a work trip and a night out. The trip receipt in the app has the route.
UBER *EATS HELP.UBER.COM / UBER EATS	—	Food delivery through Uber, a different product from rides.Tax: Usually private unless there is a clear work purpose you can substantiate.	Meals — delivery	Distinguish "TRIP" from "EATS" — the same first word, opposite categories.
LYFT *RIDE / BOLT.EU / DIDI / OLA / GRAB	—	Other ride-share platforms by region: Lyft (North America), Bolt (Europe), DiDi (Australia and Latin America), Ola (India), Grab (South-East Asia). Grab also delivers food under the same name.Tax: As for Uber trips.	Transport — ride share	—
DOORDASH / DELIVEROO / JUST EAT / MENULOG / SWIGGY / ZOMATO	—	Food delivery platforms; the restaurant is not on the line.Tax: Usually private unless there is a clear work purpose you can substantiate.	Meals — delivery	—
NETFLIX.COM / SPOTIFY / DISNEY PLUS / PRIME VIDEO / YOUTUBE PREMIUM	—	Streaming subscriptions.Tax: Usually private.	Personal — entertainment	—
OPENAI *CHATGPT SUBSCR	VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 OPENAI *CHATG…	OpenAI billing for a ChatGPT subscription. The product name after the asterisk is often cut off by the field width.Tax: Usually deductible when used for the business; Fin marked the screenshot example as deductible.	Technology — software subscription	Truncated to "OPENAI *CHATG" on a bank line with a long prefix.
ANTHROPIC / CLAUDE SUBSCRIPTION	—	Anthropic billing for a Claude subscription or usage.Tax: Often deductible to the business-use share in most jurisdictions when it relates to earning your income; usually private otherwise.	Technology — software subscription	—
CANVA / CANVA PTY LTD	—	Canva Pro or Teams billing. The company suffix shows Canva's Australian entity even on statements elsewhere.Tax: Often deductible to the business-use share in most jurisdictions when it relates to earning your income; usually private otherwise.	Technology — software subscription	—
XERO / MYOB / INTUIT *QUICKBOOKS / FRESHBOOKS / SAGE	—	Accounting software subscriptions. Xero and MYOB are common in Australia and New Zealand, QuickBooks and FreshBooks in North America, Sage in the UK.Tax: Usually deductible as a cost of managing your tax affairs or running the business.	Technology — accounting software	—
GITHUB / GITHUB INC	—	GitHub plan or Copilot billing.Tax: Often deductible to the business-use share in most jurisdictions when it relates to earning your income; usually private otherwise.	Technology — software subscription	—
ZOOM.US / SLACK / NOTION LABS / DROPBOX / ATLASSIAN	—	Collaboration and productivity subscriptions, usually billed in USD from the provider's home country.Tax: Often deductible to the business-use share in most jurisdictions when it relates to earning your income; usually private otherwise. Often paired with a foreign-transaction fee line when billed from abroad.	Technology — software subscription	—
INTERSERVER.NET / <host>.COM hosting lines	VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 INTERSERVER.N…	Web hosting and server providers often use their domain as the descriptor.Tax: Fin's reasoning on the screenshot row: hosting used to earn income is deductible to the business-use share.	Technology — hosting	—
AIRBNB * <reservation code>	—	An Airbnb stay; the token after the asterisk is the reservation code.Tax: Usually deductible for a work trip with a travel record; private otherwise.	Travel — accommodation	—
BOOKING.COM / EXPEDIA / HOTELS.COM / AGODA	—	Accommodation booked through an online travel agent. The hotel name is not on the line.Tax: As for Airbnb.	Travel — accommodation	—
<airline> <ticket number> / <airline>.COM	—	Airfares, usually the airline name followed by a long ticket number, and sometimes in-flight purchases under the same name.Tax: Usually deductible for a work trip; a travel diary may be needed for longer trips in some jurisdictions.	Travel — airfares	—
PARKING <operator> <site> / <city> PARKING METER / PAYBYPHONE / RINGGO / EASYPARK	—	Car parks and street-parking apps. Operators put the site after their name; apps put only their own name.Tax: Usually deductible for work travel with a record of the trip; commuting and private trips are usually not.	Transport — parking	—
<transit authority> / OPAL	—	Public-transport fares tapped with a card, or a top-up to a transit card. The line is the authority or the card scheme, not the journey.Tax: Work travel between sites is often deductible; the trip to and from home is usually private.	Transport — public transport	—
<telco> / <internet provider> by direct debit or card	—	Phone and internet bills. The provider name is stable; the rail (direct debit, card, bill payment) varies.Tax: Deductible to the business-use share in most systems, which needs a reasonable basis.	Utilities — phone and internet	—
<energy retailer> / <water utility> by direct debit	—	Electricity, gas and water bills.Tax: Usually private for a home; a home-office share may be claimable on the basis this site describes under tax treatment.	Utilities — energy and water	—
POST OFFICE / <national post> <outlet>	—	Postage, packaging, or a bill paid over the counter at a post office — Australia Post, Royal Mail, USPS, Canada Post, Deutsche Post, India Post.	Postage, or whatever bill was paid there	A post office takes payments for many billers, so the line can hide a completely different expense.

Australian transport, utilities and services

Named Australian merchants that recur on sole-trader statements: toll operators, car parks, transit cards, airlines, telcos, energy retailers and state government portals. Each is the local instance of a global pattern above.

Pattern	Example	What it encodes	Usually resolves to	Why it is hard
LINKT / E-TOLL / CITYLINK / EASTLINK / TRANSURBAN	—	Toll-road account top-ups or trip charges. The line is the toll operator, not the road.Tax: Usually deductible for work travel with a record of the trip; commuting and private trips are usually not.	Transport — tolls	A top-up is a prepayment; the actual trips are inside the toll account statement.
WILSON PARKING <site>	VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 WILSON PARKIN…	A Wilson Parking car park. The site name follows and is often truncated.Tax: Usually deductible when parked for work; Fin marked the screenshot example at a 50% business share.	Transport — parking	—
SECURE PARKING / CARE PARK	—	Other Australian car-park operators.Tax: As for Wilson Parking.	Transport — parking	—
TRANSPORTFORNSW TRAVEL / OPAL / MYKI / TRANSLINK	—	Public-transport fares tapped with a card or a top-up to a state transit card.Tax: Work travel between sites is often deductible; the trip to and from home is usually private.	Transport — public transport	—
QANTAS AIRWAYS / JETSTAR / VIRGIN AUSTRALIA / REX	—	Australian airlines, and sometimes in-flight purchases under the same name.Tax: Usually deductible for a work trip with records.	Travel — airfares	—
TELSTRA / OPTUS / VODAFONE / TPG / AUSSIE BROADBAND	—	Phone and internet bills, by direct debit, BPAY or card.Tax: Deductible to the business-use share, which needs a reasonable basis.	Utilities — phone and internet	—
AGL / ORIGIN ENERGY / ENERGYAUSTRALIA / RED ENERGY	—	Electricity and gas bills.Tax: Usually private for a home; a home-office share may be claimable on the basis this site describes under tax treatment.	Utilities — energy	—
SERVICE NSW / VICROADS / QLD TRANSPORT / SERVICE SA	—	State government transactions — vehicle registration, licences, permits.Tax: Registration is usually deductible to the business-use share of the vehicle.	Motor vehicle — registration, or government fees	—
AUSTRALIA POST / AUSPOST <outlet>	—	Postage, packaging, or a bill paid over the counter at a post office.	Postage, or whatever bill was paid there	A post office takes payments for many billers, so the line can hide a completely different expense.

Australian retail with store numbers

Big chains send the trading name followed by a store or site number. The number identifies the location, not the purchase — and several of these chains sell both business supplies and private goods under the same descriptor. The chains here are Australian, because the worked examples are; the store-number convention itself is universal (Walmart, Tesco, Home Depot, Loblaws and Reliance lines all do the same).

Pattern	Example	What it encodes	Usually resolves to	Why it is hard
BUNNINGS nnnn <suburb>	VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 BUNNINGS 6940	A Bunnings hardware store; the four-digit number is the store code.Tax: Consumables used in the business are usually deductible; Fin noted on the screenshot that a larger item could be a capital purchase with different rules.	Office or operational supplies for a sole trader; hardware; private household	A drill for the job and a barbecue for the weekend produce the same line.
7-ELEVEN nnnn <suburb>	VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 7-ELEVEN 1279	A 7-Eleven site, which is both a fuel station and a convenience store; the number is the site code. The same brand and problem exist in North America and Asia.Tax: Fuel is usually deductible to the business-use share of the vehicle, with a logbook or trip records; snacks are usually private.	Transport — fuel, or personal — snacks	Fuel and a coffee produce identical descriptors — the amount is the only hint. This is the example Fin scored at 55%.
WOOLWORTHS nnnn / WW METRO nnnn / WOOLWORTHS ONLINE	—	A Woolworths supermarket, a Metro store, or an online order. The number is the store.Tax: Usually private unless there is a clear work purpose you can substantiate.	Groceries — usually private	Supermarkets sell gift cards, phone credit and stationery, so a business purchase can hide under a grocery descriptor.
COLES nnnn / COLES ONLINE	—	Coles supermarket or online order. "COLES EXPRESS" sites were fuel and convenience stores.Tax: Usually private unless there is a clear work purpose you can substantiate.	Groceries — usually private; Express sites may be fuel	The Express variant reintroduces the fuel-or-snacks problem.
ALDI STORES <suburb> / IGA <suburb>	—	Other supermarkets, usually with a suburb rather than a store number.Tax: Usually private unless there is a clear work purpose you can substantiate.	Groceries — usually private	—
OFFICEWORKS nnnn	—	An Officeworks store by number.Tax: Usually deductible when for the business; a computer may be a capital item.	Office supplies, printing, or technology	School supplies and business stationery share a descriptor.
JB HI-FI <suburb> / HARVEY NORMAN / THE GOOD GUYS	—	Electronics retailers.Tax: Business equipment is usually deductible to the business-use share; larger items may be capital.	Technology — equipment, or personal	A work laptop and a television look the same on the line.
KMART nnnn / TARGET nnnn / BIG W nnnn	—	Department stores with store numbers.Tax: Usually private unless there is a clear work purpose you can substantiate.	Personal — household; occasionally office supplies	—
BP <site name> / BP CONNECT	—	A BP service station, named by site rather than number on most lines.Tax: Fuel is usually deductible to the business-use share of the vehicle, with a logbook or trip records; snacks are usually private.	Transport — fuel, or convenience purchase	Fuel or a pie: the same descriptor.
SHELL <site> / VIVA ENERGY	—	Shell-branded sites, operated in Australia by Viva Energy; the operator name sometimes appears instead of the brand.Tax: As for BP.	Transport — fuel, or convenience purchase	—
AMPOL <site> / CALTEX <site>	—	Ampol (formerly Caltex) service stations; older lines may still say Caltex.Tax: As for BP.	Transport — fuel	—
UNITED PETROLEUM / METRO PETROLEUM / LIBERTY	—	Independent fuel chains.Tax: As for BP.	Transport — fuel	—
CHEMIST WAREHOUSE <suburb> / PRICELINE	—	Pharmacies.Tax: Usually private.	Personal — health	—
DAN MURPHYS nnnn / BWS nnnn / LIQUORLAND nnnn	—	Bottle shops, with store numbers.Tax: Usually private; entertainment spending is generally not deductible in most systems.	Personal — alcohol, or entertainment	—
MCDONALDS nnnn / KFC <suburb> / HUNGRY JACKS nnnn	—	Fast-food chains, mostly with store numbers.Tax: Meals are generally private; overnight work travel is the usual exception and needs records.	Meals — usually private	—
TVC TOBACCO… / <name> TOBACCONIST	VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 TVC TOBACCO…	A tobacconist, identified by the word in the trading name.Tax: Fin marked the screenshot example as not deductible.	Personal — tobacco	—
BRIDIE OREILLYS / <name> HOTEL / <name> TAVERN	VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 BRIDIE OREILLYS	A pub, identified by a name Fin recognised as a venue rather than a person. "HOTEL" in an Australian trading name is usually a pub.Tax: Entertainment is generally not deductible in most systems; Fin marked the screenshot example as not deductible.	Meals and entertainment	A person's name that is really a venue — the same trap as the sole-trader names below, in reverse.

Truncation and encoding quirks

Descriptors travel through fixed-width fields, uppercase-only systems and several banks' formatting on the way to you, in every country. Most of the strangeness is damage, not information — once you know the damage patterns, you can read through them.

Pattern	Example	What it encodes	Usually resolves to	Why it is hard
<name> PTY L / PTY LT / P/L	VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 SHAHMIR PTY L	"PTY LTD" (an Australian proprietary company) cut off by the field width, or abbreviated to "P/L" by the merchant.	A company — but the line does not say what it sells	A company name with no trade word in it ("SHAHMIR PTY L") tells you it is a business and nothing more. This is the example Fin scored at 30%.
<name> LTD / LIMITED / LLC / INC / GMBH / BV / SARL / PVT LTD	—	Company suffixes from other jurisdictions — UK and Commonwealth "LTD", US "LLC" and "INC", German "GMBH", Dutch "BV", French "SARL", Indian "PVT LTD". Like "PTY LTD", they get cut mid-word at the field edge ("LIMITE", "GMB").	A company — the suffix says where it is registered, not what it sells	The suffix is often the only country signal on a line from an online merchant.
<merchant> <city> <state or province code>	WOOLWORTHS 1234 SYDNEY NS	A two-letter region code after the city: Australian banks often print the first two letters of the state ("NS", "VI", "QL"); US and Canadian lines use the postal abbreviation ("CA", "NY", "ON", "BC").	Location only	Easy to read "NS" or "VI" as part of the merchant name — or to mistake "CA" for Canada rather than California.
<merchant> <city> AU / AUS / GB / GBR / US / USA / CA / CAN / IN / DE	—	Country code appended by the scheme — two letters or three, depending on the bank. It marks where the merchant is registered, which for an online merchant may not be where you are.	Location only	A foreign country code is the early warning for a foreign-transaction fee on the next line.
ALL CAPS, DROPPED VOWELS AND SQUASHED WORDS	WILSON PARKIN, INTERSERVER.N	Card-scheme fields are uppercase and short, so merchants and banks abbreviate: vowels go, spaces go, the tail is cut. The end of a long line is the first thing lost.	Reconstruct the word, then resolve the merchant	The truncation point depends on the bank's prefix length, so the same merchant is cut differently at different banks.
WWW.<merchant>.COM / <merchant>.COM.AU / <merchant>.CO.UK / <merchant>.DE	—	The merchant used its web address as the descriptor. Common for online-only businesses and hosting providers; the domain suffix hints at the country.	Online purchase or subscription — resolve the domain	A domain can be the parent company rather than the brand you know.
<merchant> — phone number as descriptor	—	Some merchants put a contact number in the descriptor field so cardholders can call before disputing.	Resolve by the number	—
INTL TRANSACTION FEE / FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEE / NON-STERLING TRANSACTION FEE	—	A separate fee line the bank adds when the merchant is overseas, even if you paid in your own currency. Australian banks say "INTL", US banks "FOREIGN", UK banks "NON-STERLING".Tax: Follows the treatment of the purchase it relates to.	Bank fees — attach it to the purchase it belongs to	The fee is a separate line with no merchant name; you match it by date and amount.
FOREIGN CURRENCY CONVERSION FEE / FX FEE / CURRENCY CONVERSION	—	A fee for converting a purchase in another currency into yours. Some banks fold it into the amount and print the rate instead.Tax: As for the foreign-transaction fee.	Bank fees — attach to the purchase	—
<merchant> USD 20.00 / <merchant> 18.00 EUR / RATE 1.9142	—	The original currency and amount, printed alongside the figure charged in your currency — sometimes with the exchange rate used.Tax: Claim the amount actually charged in your currency, including any fee line.	Overseas purchase — usually a software subscription	—
REVERSAL <original descriptor>	—	The bank backing out an earlier line — a duplicate, an error, a cancelled authorisation.	Cancels the matching debit; not income	Pair it with the original or both lines pollute the category totals.
REFUND <merchant> / <merchant> (credit)	—	The merchant returning money. Often the same descriptor as the purchase, with the sign flipped.Tax: A refunded expense is not an expense.	Reduces the original expense; not income	—
PENDING <merchant> vs the posted line	—	A pending line is the authorisation the merchant requested; the posted line is what settled. Descriptor, amount and date can all change between the two.	Only the posted line counts	Fuel, hotels and hire cars authorise one amount and settle another. Categorise the posted line, not the pending one.
PRE-AUTH / AUTHORISATION HOLD / TEMP HOLD	—	A hold on funds — at a hotel check-in, a fuel pump, a hire-car desk — released or replaced later.	Not a transaction until it settles	—
Value Date: dd/mm/yyyy / EFFECTIVE DATE / POSTED mm/dd	—	The date the transaction settled, which some banks print after the descriptor. It can differ from the purchase date by days — and the day/month order depends on the country.	Timing only	A purchase can fall into a different month, quarter or tax year depending on which date you use; keep the receipt date. "03/04" is March in one country and April in another.
PEACHYLOPEZ / <handle> — a handle as a merchant	VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 PEACHYLOPEZ	A social-media or marketplace handle used as a trading name — typical of a creative or a small online seller taking card payments through a processor.	Professional services or a small online purchase — low certainty from the line alone	No trade word, no company suffix, no location. This is the example Fin scored at 40%.
<FIRSTNAME LASTNAME> — a person's name as a merchant	—	Sole traders often register a Square, PayPal or bank merchant account under their own name, so the descriptor is a person. A fast payment to a tradesperson — Osko, Faster Payments, Zelle, Interac, UPI — looks the same.Tax: A contractor's invoice, with their business identifier, is what substantiates the expense — the descriptor cannot.	Contractor or supplier if you know them; otherwise unresolved	How to tell a person from a business: a processor prefix ("SQ *") means a merchant account; a company suffix means a company; a city suffix means a card terminal; a bare name with a free-text reference is usually a bank transfer to an individual.
RESERVE ROAD / <street name> as a merchant	VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 RESERVE ROAD	A merchant named after its address — often a car park, a roadside stop, a small venue or a building manager.	Parking or toll if the amount is small; otherwise unresolved	A street name says where, not what. This is the example Fin scored at 50%.
Same merchant, three spellings	WOOLWORTHS 1234, WW METRO 5678, WOOLWORTHS ONLINE	Different channels and store formats of one retailer send different descriptors.	One merchant, one category	A rule matched on the exact string catches one spelling and misses the rest; match on the stable stem instead.

How Fin reads these

Ten rows from the product, exactly as they appear in the screenshot on this site: the descriptor, the category Fin chose, the confidence it showed, and its reasoning. The screenshot is Australian, so the tax reasoning quoted is Australian; the reading method is the same on any statement. The point is not that every guess is right — it is that Fin says how sure it is, and a low number is an invitation to add context. When you correct one, Fin learns from the correction.

Pattern	Example	What it encodes	Usually resolves to	Why it is hard
VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 TVC TOBACCO…	Personal — Tobacco/Vape · 98%	Reasoning shown: "Merchant is a tobacconist; purchase appears tobacco-related."Tax: Marked not deductible.	Personal — tobacco	A trade word in the name makes this one easy: high confidence, no context needed.
VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 RESERVE ROAD	Transport · 50%	Reasoning shown: "Payment near 'Reserve Road'; could indicate parking/toll/road fee; small amount suggests toll/parking."Tax: Marked deductible at a 50% business share, with a note that road tolls and parking are generally deductible for business travel and to assume mixed use without an explicit purpose.	Transport — parking or toll	A street name and a small amount — Fin reads the amount when the name gives nothing. 50% is a request for context.
VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 7-ELEVEN 1279	Transport · 55%	Reasoning shown: "7-Eleven often indicates fuel purchases; amount fits small top-up. Could also be snacks, so chosen Transport with low…"Tax: Marked not deductible at 0%, with the note that fuel is deductible only to the business-use percentage and needs a logbook or records; purpose unclear, so treated as private.	Transport — fuel	The fuel-or-snacks descriptor. Fin picked the likelier category and kept the confidence low.
VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 PEACHYLOPEZ	Professional Services · 40%	Reasoning shown: "Merchant name suggests an individual/creative provider; treated as contractor/service with low certainty."Tax: Marked not deductible at 0%, noting contractor fees are deductible when incurred to earn income and supported by an invoice and ABN.	Professional services	A handle with no trade word. The invoice, once attached, is what lifts this.
VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 OPENAI *CHATG…	Technology · 98%	Reasoning shown: "OpenAI ChatGPT is a software subscription/tool relevant to a technology sole trader."Tax: Marked deductible at 100%, noting software used to produce assessable income is deductible to the business-use percentage.	Technology — software subscription	Truncated, but the processor-plus-product shape is unmistakable.
VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 BUNNINGS 6940	Office Supplies · 65%	Reasoning shown: "Bunnings purchase likely small consumables/tools; treated as office/operational supplies for a sole trader."Tax: Marked deductible at 100% with a 60% confidence on the tax side, noting minor consumables used in running the business are deductible and a capital item would follow different rules.	Office supplies	Middling confidence because the descriptor is a store code, not an item; the amount tipped it towards consumables.
VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 WILSON PARKIN…	Transport · 95%	Reasoning shown: "Wilson Parking is clearly parking/transport."Tax: Marked deductible at a 50% business share; the suggested records are a parking receipt and a logbook or trip record.	Transport — parking	Truncated to "PARKIN", still resolved. The open question is the business share, not the category.
VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 INTERSERVER.N…	Technology · 95%	Reasoning shown: "Interserver Net indicates web hosting/server services; aligns with Technology."Tax: Marked deductible at 100%: "Web hosting/domain/servers used to earn income are deductible to business-use %. Assuming wholly business use."	Technology — hosting	A domain-as-descriptor, cut at ".N". Fin reconstructed the domain and resolved the merchant.
VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 BRIDIE OREILLYS	Meals & Entertainment · 95%	Reasoning shown: "Pub/restaurant spend; entertainment."Tax: Marked not deductible at 0%, noting deductions for entertainment, food and drink are generally denied and no qualifying exception was evident.	Meals and entertainment	Looks like a person's name; Fin recognised the venue.
VISA DEBIT PURCHASE CARD 8514 SHAHMIR PTY L	Professional Services · 30%	Reasoning shown: "Shahmir Pty Ltd is unclear; defaulted to services with low confidence."Tax: Marked not deductible at 0%, noting service fees are deductible when incurred in earning income and supported by an invoice, ABN and a clear description.	Professional services	A truncated company name with nothing else. The lowest confidence on the screen, and the clearest case for adding a note or an invoice.

The confidence figure is the useful part. In the rows above, the lines that resolved from a trade word or a known platform sit in the nineties; the lines that offered only a street, a handle or a truncated company name sit between 30 and 55 per cent. A low number is not a failure — it is Fin telling you which lines want a note, a receipt or a business-use split. Correct one and Fin learns from it, so the same descriptor resolves with more certainty next time. Tax notes in every row are general and hedged: the treatment that applies to you depends on your own circumstances, your records and where you file.

Take it further

Tax treatment →

How a category carries a deductibility and business-use setting, so a resolved descriptor becomes a tax position.

Cost tracking →

Where the categorised lines end up: spend by category, by project and over time.

Tax invoice →

The document a descriptor cannot replace when you are GST-registered.

Substantiation →

Why a bank line alone is rarely enough to support a claim, and what to keep with it.

Reading the statement

Descriptor questions

Why does my bank statement show a different name from the shop I paid?: Because the name on the line belongs to whoever holds the merchant account, not necessarily the shop. A cafe that takes payment through Square appears as "SQ *" plus whatever the owner typed at sign-up; an online store on Shopify appears with an "SP" prefix; anything bought through the App Store is "APPLE.COM/BILL" regardless of the app. The bank then adds its own prefix and card token in front, and the field width cuts off the tail. The shop is still in there — usually after the asterisk, before the suburb.
What does the asterisk in "SQ *" or "PAYPAL *" mean?: It is a delimiter between the payment processor and the merchant. Left of the asterisk is who processed the payment (Square, PayPal, Google, Microsoft, Uber); right of it is the product or seller you actually paid. Reading the two halves separately is the single most useful habit for decoding a line: the left half tells you the channel, the right half tells you the category.
What are the four digits after "CARD" on a transaction line?: The last four digits of the card that made the payment. Banks print them so you can tell which card was used when several sit on one account. If you keep one card for business and another for personal spending, those four digits are the most reliable business-or-personal signal on the whole line — more reliable than the merchant name, which is the same for both.
Why does the descriptor change between pending and posted?: A pending line is the authorisation the merchant requested at the moment you paid; the posted line is what settled, often a day or three later. Fuel pumps, hotels and hire-car desks authorise one amount and settle another, and some merchants send a placeholder descriptor first and their real trading name on settlement. Only the posted line counts. If you categorise the pending one and it changes, you have categorised a line that no longer exists.
Why do bank descriptors look so different from one country or bank to another?: Because only the payment rails are local. A card purchase is assembled the same way everywhere — scheme, merchant, city, country code — so "SQ *", "PAYPAL *", "APPLE.COM/BILL" and "AMZN Mktp" read the same in Sydney, London, Toronto or Mumbai. The rails around them are national: Australia has Osko, PayID and BPAY; the UK has Faster Payments ("FPI"), standing orders and BACS; the euro area has SEPA transfers and "SEPA-Lastschrift" debits; the US has ACH, Zelle and "PURCHASE AUTHORIZED ON"; Canada has Interac e-Transfer and pre-authorised debits; India packs a UPI payment into slash-separated tokens. Each bank then abbreviates its own way and cuts at its own field width. Learn the shape once and the vocabulary is a lookup — which is what the family tables on this page are for.
Why does the same 7-Eleven line get a different category each time?: Because a 7-Eleven descriptor is identical whether you bought fuel or a coffee — the store number identifies the site, not the purchase. With nothing else on the line, the amount is the only hint, so a $70 line reads as fuel and a $6 line reads as a snack. Fin shows a confidence figure for exactly this reason; on a fuel-or-snacks line it sits in the fifties, which is the signal to add a note or attach the receipt so the next one resolves with more certainty.
Is this page built from a dataset of real transactions?: No. It is built from descriptor conventions that anyone can verify against their own statement — card-scheme and processor prefixes, country- and bank-specific rail formats, store-number and truncation patterns — plus ten worked examples taken from a product screenshot on this site, showing the category Fin chose, the confidence it showed and its reasoning. The screenshot is Australian, which is why those ten rows are; the conventions are not. There are no frequencies or statistics here because there is no published resolution dataset behind the page yet. If one is published, it will be labelled as such.

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