Overview
Sellers on ClickBank can customize their billing descriptor to match their brand and product. A billing descriptor is the identifying transaction text that shows up on a customer’s credit or debit card statement post purchase.
NOTE: ClickBank uses a dynamic billing descriptor. For more information on the types of billing descriptors, check out this article.
tldr; Update your billing descriptor using the new billing descriptor field in the product editor to reduce refund requests and chargebacks, especially on uspells.
This article contains the following sections:
- How to Configure Your Billing Descriptor at the Product Level
- How to Create the Right Billing Descriptor For Your Product
- Billing Descriptor Examples
- Creating Billing Descriptors For Products in an Upsell Flow
- Billing Descriptor Makeover: Before & After
- Additional Resources & Related Articles
How to Configure Your Billing Descriptor at the Product Level
As of May 13, 2024, all billing descriptors will be configured at the product level in the Product Details section. Sellers are responsible for creating a billing descriptor that matches their product and provides information to the customer. This field cannot be null and must be added when products are created.
Prior to this update all billing descriptors were configured through the “Billing Descriptor” field found in the My Site section of Vendor Settings. If sellers did not provide anything in the billing descriptor field, the default setting was the receipt number.
If you had a billing descriptor configured in the My Site section, this descriptor has been populated at the product level for every existing product in the account. This billing descriptor will apply unless otherwise modified when editing products.
Customizing a billing descriptor that matches your brand and product is an important step in reducing refunds and chargebacks. If a customer doesn’t recognize a purchase on their bank statement, they are more likely to request a refund or initiate the chargeback process.
Follow these steps to set and customize your billing descriptor at the product level.
Step 1: Log in to your ClickBank account.
Step 2: Select Accounts, and then choose the account nickname that houses the product you want to set and customize the billing descriptor for.
Step 3: Select My Products from the Vendors Settings tab.
Step 4: Select the product you want to edit the billing descriptor for and click the three dot icon, the select Edit.
Step 5: Find the Product Information section. The Billing Descriptors customization area is at the bottom of that section.
Step 6: Enter in a billing descriptor that best reflects your product in the field.
Once your billing descriptor is customized and set, it will appear on your customers debit or credit statements going forward. Customizing your billing descriptor will not retroactively update debit or credit card statements.
How to Create the Right Billing Descriptor For Your Product
Creating the right billing descriptor for your product is an important step in reducing refund requests and chargebacks. It also ensures a better post-purchase experience for your customers and helps establish brand recognition and trust. The best billing descriptors contain the most amount of detail as possible with the least amount of words or characters.
Your billing descriptor should contain and accomplish the following three things:
- It should contain the name of the product or describe the product that was purchased
- It should be easy for the customer to recognize and remember what they bought from you
- It should be as specific as possible
Billing Descriptor Examples
There are a few best practices when it comes to customizing and setting your billing descriptor depending on if the product is being used in an initial sale or if it is being used in an upsell flow.
Related: Upsell Flows
For all billing descriptors, we recommend using camelCase to maximize allowed characters and assist with readability. Learn more about camelCase here.
Billing Descriptors for Initial Products
Product Name: Wolf Man Testosterone Booster
Suggested Billing Descriptor: WolfManTBoost
Product Name: Palm Vision - Guide to Reading Palms
Suggest Billing Descriptor: PalmVisReading
Product Name: Guru Brain Neurohealth Gummies
Suggested Billing Descriptor: GuruBrainHlth
Product Name: Dominick’s Woodworking Plans
Suggest Billing Descriptor: DomWoodwrkPlns
Product Name: Make Bank ClickBank Wealth Club
Suggest Billing Descriptor: MakeBankClub
Creating Billing Descriptors For Products in an Upsell Flow
Upsells are an effective purchase flow tool that can help boost your average order value.
However, when using upsells, it is even more important to create an descriptive billing descriptor. This is because initial sales and upsell sales are unique purchases and appear as such on the customer’s debit or credit card transaction statement.This falsely gives the impression to the customer that their purchase was double charged, prompting them to initiate a chargeback or request a refund.
To avoid this situation, you must create a billing descriptor that differentiates the upsell sale from the initial purchase, especially in cases when the upsell product is being offered at a same or similar price as the initial product.
Billing Descriptor Examples for Products Used in Upsell Flows
In this hypothetical scenario, the seller is offering ClickBank Blast in one, three, or six bottle quantities for their initial purchase.
Product Name: ClickBank Blast 1 Bottle
Suggest Billing Descriptor: CBBlast1Bottle
Product Name: ClickBank Blast 3 Bottles
Suggested Billing Descriptor: CBBlast3Bottle
Product Name: ClickBank Blast 6 Bottle
Suggested Billing Descriptor: CBBlast6Bottle
Then, in their first upsell, they are offering one, three, or six additional bottles at a discount.
Product Name: ClickBank Blast 1 Bottle (Discount)
Suggested Billing Descriptor: Add1BottleDis
Product Name: ClickBank Blast 3 Bottle (Discount)
Suggested Billing Descriptor: Add3BottleDis
Product Name: ClickBank Blast 6 Bottle (Discount)
Suggested Billing Descriptor: Add6BottleDis
For the second upsell, they are offering one, three, or six bottles of a complimentary supplement (not the supplement offered in the initial purchase).
Product Name: ClickBank Surge 1 Bottle
Suggested Billing Descriptor: CBSurge1Bottle
Product Name: ClickBank Surge 3 Bottle
Suggested Billing Descriptor: CBSurge1Bottle
Product Name: ClickBank Surge 6 Bottle
Suggested Billing Descriptor: CBSurge1Bottle
Billing Descriptor Makeover: Before & After
Before
In this upsell flow example, if the customer took each upsell, they would ultimately have five instances of the billing descriptor "KiwiSkin" on their debit or credit card statement. This could cause confusion, especially because the third and fourth upsell offer an adjacent product, presumably not the same product that was offered on the initial sale and in the first and second upsells. In this situation, the customer may request a refund or initiate the chargeback process due to confusion.
After
In this upsell flow example, each product offered at every upsell is uniquely named to help the customer differentiate each purchase. Additionally, the adjacent product that is offered in upsells three and four is named to reflect the product, rather than the brand. This will help customers recognize their purchases, thus reducing confusion, and refund requests and chargeback initiations.
Additional Resources & Related Articles