Transaction Descriptions
Banks require that all transactions have a description so that account holders have insight into their account activity and to assist with reconciliation, troubleshooting, and audits.
The source of a transaction's description depends in part on whether it originated on a card network or whether it originated elsewhere.
Card transaction descriptions
Card transaction descriptions are provided by the merchant in DE043. These descriptions typically contain the merchant name and location. Sometimes a customer service number is included, and in the case of a cash-transfer app, the name of the recipient or sender.
Card-load descriptions by default are provided in DE104, which contains transaction-specific data (merchant, fund source). However, if you would prefer to receive the value in DE043, which contains the merchant name and location (merchant, city, state, country), you can set the VLD43 parameter at the program or product level.
Card transaction descriptions are provided as follows:
- Program API responses:
details
details_formatted
formatted_merchant_desc
- Authorized Transactions and Posted Transactions RDFs
MERCHANT DESCRIPTION
(auth stream)FULL MERCHANT DESCRIPTION
(settlement file)
- Authorization Events
merchant_name
merchant_location
- Auth API
merchant_description
Non-card transaction descriptions
The source of descriptions for non-card transactions can vary. The descriptions in the Galileo system are typically tied to the act_type/otype
combination, which is the trans_code
. When you set up your funds flow with Galileo, you might use trans_code
s such as these:
ADd
— ACH debitADMS
— Transfer from SavingsFE0013
— ATM Domestic FeeFE0014
— ATM Intl. FeePMC2
— Card to CardPMDD
— Direct DepositADZ
— Bill Payment – CheckADR
— Bill Payment – Electronic
The descriptions for each of these transaction types are provided in these places:
- Program API responses:
type_description
— Get All Transaction History only
- Posted Transactions RDF
TRANSACTION DESCRIPTION
- Transaction Events
description
Custom transaction descriptions
To exercise finer control over these transaction descriptions, you can create your own lookup table to supply descriptions for your statements and interfaces. You can define descriptions per trans_code
or act_type/otype
combination for payments, adjustments, or fees. As desired, you can specify product IDs or any other criteria that each description should apply to. Again, these descriptions will apply to transactions that you produce on your interfaces, but they will not be present in the Galileo system.
This sample table shows one possible way to set up a custom-description lookup table:
prod_id | act_type | otype | Description |
---|---|---|---|
2222 | AD | d | OurBank ACH debit |
2222 | PM | DS | OurBank ACH credit |
4444 | AD | d | OurOtherBank ACH debit |
4444 | PM | DS | OurOtherBank ACH credit |
6666 | AD | RG | Roundup for Animal Charity |
6666 | AD | Rp | Roundup for Cancer Charity |
Endpoint description fields
Some transaction-creation endpoints provide "description" fields:
- Create Payment has
description
— Iftype
is an otype that was custom-configured for your program, the description for that otype might override the description you provide in the endpoint request, depending on your setup with Galileo. - Create Adjustment has
description
— Descriptions sent in this field override system-default descriptions in the CST only. You can arrange with Galileo to insert this description in the RDFs. - Create Account Transfer has
message
andsenderMessage
— See Message fields in the Creating an Internal Transfer guide for information on populating those parameters.
ACH transactions
The description
field of Create ACH Transaction is not included with the outgoing Nacha file. Galileo stores the value for auditing and troubleshooting purposes, and it is returned by Get ACH Transaction History.
For outgoing ACH transactions, the Company Entry Description
field in the Nacha file is derived from either the SEC code (a hard-coded description) or a default program value. Ask Galileo to help you create appropriate descriptions for outgoing ACH transactions.
The description for an ACH-related trans_code
can be found in the description
field of BADJ: adj
and BPMT: pmt
and other ACH-related event messages. The TRANSACTION DESCRIPTION
field of the Posted Transactions RDF has this same information. For example, trans_code: ADd
might read "ACH debit."
Wire transactions
The reference
field of Create Wire Transaction is included in the outgoing wire description and is returned in Get Wire Details and Get Wire History as description
.
In the RDFs and events are the descriptions for ADwo
(Outgoing wire) and PMwi
(Incoming wire).
Product parameters
These parameters affect some transaction descriptions.
Parameter | Description |
---|---|
BPLBL | Contains a string to add to the billpay adjustment description as a prefix for the biller name. |
ODFDC | Contains text for the overdraft fee description that will be displayed in the CST along with the merchant name and clearing date. Typical values are Overdraft Transaction Fee and Overdraft Fee . When this parameter is not populated, the merchant name and clearing date are still included in the description. |
BMNAM | Contains alternate text to display for transactions created by the Create Account Transfer endpoint. By default, the text “Card to Card” is displayed for both payments and adjustments. Any string in this parameter overrides the default text. See Message fields in the Creating an Internal Transfer guide for more information. |
VLD43 | Controls whether the card load description comes from field DE043 instead of DE104. |
Summary of description locations
Consult this table to see how the description fields are populated. The Output column shows where the description is displayed, and the Input column shows the source for that description.
Output | Input |
---|---|
Posted Transactions RDFsTRANSACTION DESCRIPTION | trans_type definition, non-card onlydescription field from the endpoint request |
Posted Transactions RDFsMERCHANT DESCRIPTION | |
Posted Transactions RDFsFULL MERCHANT DESCRIPTION | |
Program API responsedescription act_type_description | act_type |
Program API responsedetails | description field from the endpoint requesttrans_type definition |
Program API responseformatted_merchant_desc | |
Get All Trans History responsetype_description | trans_type definition, non-card only |
Get Wire History and Get Wire Details responsedescription | reference field from Create Wire Transaction |
Authorization event messagemerchant merchant_location merchant_name | |
Transaction event messagedescription | trans_type definition, non-card only |
Statementstrans_desc | trans_type definition, non-card only |
Updated 24 days ago