This article explains the difference between Exact Match and Starts With for merchant billing descriptor matching in Ethoca Alerts and CDRN under Prevent, along with Order Insight and Consumer Clarity under Deflect.
What's the Difference Between Exact Match and Starts With?
Exact Match checks whether the full billing descriptor is identical.
Starts With checks whether the billing descriptor begins with the same base text.
Why Knowing the Difference is Important for Receiving Alerts or Lookups
Descriptor matching affects whether alerts from Ethoca Alerts and CDRN under Prevent are matched to your account, and whether lookups through Order Insight and Consumer Clarity under Deflect are matched to your business.
If you choose the wrong matcher, then you can miss valid alerts and lookups or receive mismatched alerts.
For example, if your descriptor is dynamic and you set it to Exact Match, then alerts and lookups can fail to match when extra text appears after the base descriptor.
When to Use Each Descriptor Matcher
Use the descriptor matcher that matches how your billing descriptor appears on cardholder statements.
Descriptor Matcher | When to Use It |
Starts With | Use this when your billing descriptor is always identical. |
Exact Match | Use this when your billing descriptor begins with the same core text but adds extra text afterward. |
Descriptors under Order Insight technically have no match type and always matches the merchant name exactly.
If you want a system identical to Starts With for Order Insight, reach out to Chargeback.io support, and we'll add an asterisk at the beginning or end of your descriptor to make it dynamic (e.g., MERCHANTNAME*).
Examples
If your billing descriptor is THEO STER BOOKS 1011, and the last four digits change on each order, then add THEO STER BOOKS and set the matcher to Starts With.
If your billing descriptor is always THEO STER BOOKS, then add THEO STER BOOKS and set the matcher to Exact Match.
How to Change Descriptor Matching
To change descriptor matching, contact Support with the following information:
Billing descriptors you want to update
The descriptor matcher you want to use for each descriptor
After Support receives your request, Support will confirm when the change is complete.
FAQs
Should I always use Starts With?
Should I always use Starts With?
No. Use Starts With only if your billing descriptor is dynamic and adds text after the base name.
If you use Starts With for a static descriptor, then you can receive incorrect alerts or lookups.
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