> **Description:** Best practices for writing clear and informative payment descriptions that help users recognize transactions in their payment history.

# Payment description

Every Vipps MobilePay payment is accompanied by a short description -- shown in the app at checkout, in push notifications, and in the customer's payment history. Getting this text right is one of the simplest ways to reduce chargebacks and support contacts: customers who recognize a charge don't dispute it.

## Why this matters

A clear, specific payment description:

- **Reduces disputes and chargebacks.** "I don't recognize this charge" is one of the most common reasons customers contact support. A description like *Order acme-shop-123-order123abc -- thank you for shopping at webshop.no* is unambiguous; a generic or blank description is not.
- **Builds trust at the point of payment.** The description appears in the push notification before the customer even opens the app. A recognizable, meaningful message increases payment completion rates.
- **Supports reconciliation.** Descriptions shown at capture and refund stages give customers a clear audit trail, reducing the likelihood of friendly fraud.

## What not to include

**TIP**

- **Don't repeat the merchant name** -- it is always displayed automatically on the payment screen.
- **Don't mention Vipps or MobilePay** -- this is obvious from context.

Keep the description focused on what the customer is paying for.

## Field naming across APIs

The description field is called `paymentDescription` in the [ePayment API](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/APIs/epayment-api/README.md), `description` in the [Recurring API](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/APIs/recurring-api/README.md), `paymentText` in the [PSP API](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/APIs/psp-api/README.md), and `transactionText` in the [eCom API](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/APIs/ecom-api/README.md).

**NOTE**

- For the ePayment API and eCom API, separate description texts can be set for each action: initiate, capture, cancel, and refund.
- If you use the QR API to initiate the payment, it uses the description from the underlying payment.
- For complex orders with multiple line items, use the [Order Management API](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/APIs/order-management-api/README.md) to attach order details rather than cramming everything into this field.

## Examples by operation

| Operation | Example description |
|:---|:---|
| Initiate -- single item | *OrderId 654321-acme-shop-order123abc from webshop.no* |
| Initiate -- point of sale | *Payment for vending machine Petra* |
| Initiate -- reservation of maximum amount (EV charging, parking, etc.) | *Temporary reservation of maximum amount. You will only be charged for actual use.* |
| Capture | *Order 654321-acme-shop-order123abc. Thank you for shopping at our webshop!* |
| Refund | *Refund for order 654321-acme-shop-order123abc* |

See also: [Transaction identification strategy (`orderId` / `reference`)](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/docs/knowledge-base/orderid.md).

> **Full site overview:** For every page in this documentation, read [https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/llms.txt](https://developer.vippsmobilepay.com/llms.txt).