Credit cards and banking specialist Jenn Underwood brings over 16 years of personal finance experience to the table. After a decade of teaching courses in banking, debt reduction, budgeting and credit improvement, she moved into writing content and f.
Jenn Underwood Personal Finance WriterCredit cards and banking specialist Jenn Underwood brings over 16 years of personal finance experience to the table. After a decade of teaching courses in banking, debt reduction, budgeting and credit improvement, she moved into writing content and f.
Written By Jenn Underwood Personal Finance WriterCredit cards and banking specialist Jenn Underwood brings over 16 years of personal finance experience to the table. After a decade of teaching courses in banking, debt reduction, budgeting and credit improvement, she moved into writing content and f.
Jenn Underwood Personal Finance WriterCredit cards and banking specialist Jenn Underwood brings over 16 years of personal finance experience to the table. After a decade of teaching courses in banking, debt reduction, budgeting and credit improvement, she moved into writing content and f.
Personal Finance Writer Caroline Lupini Managing Editor, Credit Cards & Travel RewardsCaroline Lupini has been traveling the world with the help of credit card rewards since 2011. She has visited over 110 countries and is able to utilize her knowledge of credit cards and to make travel both less expensive and more luxurious. Caroline.
Caroline Lupini Managing Editor, Credit Cards & Travel RewardsCaroline Lupini has been traveling the world with the help of credit card rewards since 2011. She has visited over 110 countries and is able to utilize her knowledge of credit cards and to make travel both less expensive and more luxurious. Caroline.
Caroline Lupini Managing Editor, Credit Cards & Travel RewardsCaroline Lupini has been traveling the world with the help of credit card rewards since 2011. She has visited over 110 countries and is able to utilize her knowledge of credit cards and to make travel both less expensive and more luxurious. Caroline.
Caroline Lupini Managing Editor, Credit Cards & Travel RewardsCaroline Lupini has been traveling the world with the help of credit card rewards since 2011. She has visited over 110 countries and is able to utilize her knowledge of credit cards and to make travel both less expensive and more luxurious. Caroline.
| Managing Editor, Credit Cards & Travel Rewards
Updated: Sep 25, 2023, 9:02am
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
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It happens to everyone. Your credit card statement arrives and for the life of you, you don’t remember the purchase. Before you assume your card was hacked, know that there are other potential reasons you may not recognize the charge. We’ll outline them below.
Some charges will come through as an alternative trading name for the company or list the location where the company is headquartered, rather than the location of your purchase.
Also, the naming conventions that try to offer clarification may be more challenging for some vendors. According to Visa’s Merchant Data Standards, the name must convey both the name most prominently displayed by the merchant and the merchant’s “Doing Business As” (DBA) name. While the chosen name may make sense at the moment of purchase, when your bill arrives 28 days later, that food truck purchase at Señor Burrito can show up on your statement as parent company ABC Incorporated.
Another issue is that transaction data is limited to 25 characters. For most merchants this length should be sufficient, but when it’s not, some interesting abbreviations come into play. Some transactions may also require that supplemental data is included in those 25 characters. Sometimes websites that redirect you to a different payment processor may include a combination of both companies. While both names help contextualize your order, not all purchases are that clear.
A quick online search of the merchant’s name exactly as it appears on your statement will likely generate some clarity. Chances are good that if you didn’t recognize a transaction, others had a similar experience. You can often find enough information from an online search to identify the merchant in question, including their phone number.
If you still need more information, log into your account. Some credit card providers offer additional information online or within their apps. Chase, for instance, offers expanded merchant details on the transaction line within your recent activity. You may find the website and phone number of the merchant.
While you’re reviewing your statement, check the category assigned to the charge. A $4 transaction titled simply “Wagon Road” may not make sense, but in conjunction with the category of “Travel” could remind you it was for a parking garage.
Often the most challenging element of identifying a purchase is due to the amount of time that’s lapsed since you made the charge. Look at the other transactions from that same date and check to see what else you did that day. You may be able to identify the purchase by putting it in the context of your schedule.
Check with any authorized users on the account to see if they made the purchase. Ask if there’s anyone in your household who may have borrowed your card. Life is busy, they may have even asked for permission and you forgot the conversation. The purchase could be an accident as well. If you share a computer or ordered items on a website before, your payment information may be saved as the default payment method.
If you’re still stumped, reach out to the merchant by phone. Some cards include the merchant phone number right on the transaction line of your statement. To save room, the hyphens are often removed, so it may simply appear to be a string of 10 numbers.
Similar to the online search, if you’re confused by the merchant name, it’s likely people have called before. Mention that you do recognize the purchase on your card statement and ask if they can tell you more about their company and what they sell.
If you don’t see a phone number on your bill, call the number on the back of your card and ask them for help getting contact information for a merchant.
