Updated February 2026 · 6 min read
68% of Americans have found charges on their bank statement they didn't recognize. Most turn out to be legitimate — just labeled with confusing merchant descriptors. Here's why it happens and how to decode every charge.
When you pay for Netflix, you expect to see "Netflix" on your statement. But you might see NETFLIX.COM, NETFLIX INC, or even a 15-character code that means nothing to you. Here's why:
See all 178+ mystery charges decoded →
Confusing charges are annoying but identifiable. The real money drain is the charges you never look at — the $9.99/mo subscription that's been billing for 8 months since your free trial ended. The average person has $273/year in forgotten subscriptions.
Upload a bank statement and we'll identify every charge — subscriptions, mystery charges, and charges you forgot about. Takes 90 seconds.
Identify All My Charges — $5 →Companies register a "merchant descriptor" with payment processors, which is often abbreviated or uses a parent company name. Character limits (22-25 chars) force further truncation.
Any purchase through Apple — App Store subscriptions, Apple Music, iCloud+, Apple TV+, in-app purchases. Check Settings → [Your Name] → Subscriptions on your iPhone. See our full APPLE.COM/BILL explainer.
Search the descriptor in our mystery charges database, or upload your full statement to automatically identify every charge.
🔍 Free Tool: Bank Statement Charge Lookup
See a confusing charge? Type it into our free lookup tool and instantly find out what it is.
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Upload a bank statement and we'll detect every recurring charge in 30 seconds. Most people find 3-5 subscriptions they forgot about.
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