Payment Descriptors

Descriptors allow you to provide additional information on your users' bank statements about what a payment is for and who it is from.

Descriptors help your customers recognise the transaction and can reduce chargebacks, disputes, or queries from customers.

A descriptor is set in one of two ways with Zai: either with a default descriptor or a custom descriptor that you pass to the relevant API object.

Default Descriptors

The following descriptors are shown by default.

Payins

• Direct debit:
  ZAI [User name] or ZAI [Platform name]
  Maximum of 18 characters with 13 usable.
• Credit card:
  ZAI*[User name] or ZAI*[Platform name]
  Maximum of 22 characters with 18 usable.

Payouts

• International wire payout:
  ZAI*[Platform name]
  Maximum characters varies depending on the recipient bank. Often 18 characters with 14 usable.
• Direct entry / direct credit:
  ZAI* [4 digit batch ID]: Platform name
  Maximum of 18 characters with 13 usable.
• Realtime payout:
  ZAI*[Platform Name]
  Maximum of 280 characters with 276 usable.
• PayPal payout:
  ZAI*[Platform Name]
  Maximum of 22 characters, with 18 usable.

Custom Descriptors

The following descriptors can be set using a custom value.

Payins

• Direct Debit:
  Using the custom_descriptor field on an Item, you can change what is displayed. See Create Item for more information.
  ZAI*[custom_descriptor]
  Maximum of 18 characters and 13 usable.
• Credit Card:
  Using the custom_descriptor field on an Item, you can change what is displayed. See Create Item for more information.
  ZAI*[custom_descriptor]
  Maximum of 22 characters and 18 usable.

Payouts

• Realtime Payout:
  When using the custom_descriptor field on the withdraw call of a user's wallet, you can control what appears on the bank statement.
  ZAI*[custom_descriptor]
  Maximum of 280 characters and 200 usable.