How to Find Your Billing Descriptor & ARNs With Stripe

These are critical to set up

Without your billing descriptor, you will not be able to receive alerts from any alert provider. Without ARNs, you cannot receive alerts from RDR; which covers 97% of Visa transactions.

ℹ️ Be sure to check these FAQs regarding billing descriptors and ARNs.

How & Where to Add Descriptor(s) & ARNs

Here's how to add your descriptor(s) and ARNs:

Navigate to the Enrollments page (Business settings > Enrollment)
Click the “+ Enroll more descriptors” button.
Select your Payment processor (e.g., Shopify).
Enter your billing descriptor(s) in the field labeled Billing descriptor. If you have more than one, separate them with commas.
In the RDR enrollment process, enter your four different ARNs (for Visa transactions) in the field provided, separating each code with a comma.

ℹ️ It should take 12 hours for CDRN and Ethoca to activate. And typically 3 business days for RDR to activate.

👉What If I Have No Refunds/ARNs?

You'll need to do test refunds to generate your ARNs or get your BINs and CAID (B&C). Also follow this step if you have fewer than 4 ARNs.

Read this guide to learn how to get your B&C or do test refunds.

Finding Your Billing Descriptor for Stripe

Follow these steps to find your billing descriptor with Stripe:

1. Log into your Stripe dashboard

2. Access Settings and Business Settings

Click the cog icon (usually located in the top right or sidebar).

From there, scroll down and select Business settings.

3. Locate Public Details

Within Business Settings, find the Public Details or Public business information section.

4. View your Statement Descriptors

You'll see fields for:

1. Statement descriptor: This is the primary descriptor that appears on customer card statements.

2. Shortened descriptor: This is a shorter version that may be used if there is not enough space on the statement to display the full descriptor.

Descriptor limits:

Uses only Latin characters.
Has 5 – 22 characters.
Contains at least one letter.
- If using a prefix and a suffix, both require at least one letter (e.g., PETastic)
Do not use the following special characters: <, >, \, ‘, “, and *.
Reflects your Doing Business As (DBA) name (e.g., Tims Hawaiian Shirts).
Contains more than a single standard term or common website URL. A website URL is only acceptable if it provides a clear and accurate description of a transaction on a customer’s statement.

How to Find ARNs with Stripe

Essentials:

ARNs must be 23-digits long
They must begin with a '2' or '7'
You need 4 in total
These must be from Visa purchases
You can find ARNs on partially refunded orders

Without ARNs, you cannot enroll under RDR alerts. Verifi requires these to verify merchant accounts.

Follow these steps to find your ARNs:

1. Log into your Stripe Dashboard

2. Navigate to Payments

In the sidebar or top navigation, click on Payments. This will show you a list of transactions.

3. Locate the Refund

Find the ARN code for the specific refund you want. Search by order number or amount or filter by refunds to make this easier.

4. Click on the Refund

Click on the individual refund to view its detailed information.

5. Click View Details

The Acquirer Reference Number (ARN) should be displayed within the refund details. Look for labels like "ARN", "Acquirer Reference Number", or "Refund ID".

Source: Stripe support

Stripe ARN Status Meanings

ARN is Available: The ARN will display within a refund on your dashboard.
ARN Isn’t Available: If ARN is not supported for the refund, you cannot see it.
ARN is Processing (Default Status): The refund has not yet been processed.

For visuals on finding these, please refer to the video at the beginning of this guide.

Some transactions will show a System Trace Audit Number (STAN) instead of an ARN. We cannot accept these since Verifi requires ARNs.

💡 Need more help? Get support from our representatives at Chargeback.

We’re here to help with any questions you may have.