Bank Statement Abbreviations: What 60+ Common Codes Mean
What CO, TFR, POS, ACH, NSF, DD, BAL and other bank statement abbreviations mean, grouped by deposits, withdrawals, fees and balances.
Bank statement abbreviations are short codes banks use in transaction descriptions because each line has a strict character limit. Most fall into four groups: how the money moved (ACH, POS, TFR, WD), what kind of entry it is (DEP, DR, CR, CHK), fees (NSF, OD, SVC CHG) and balances (BAL, BF, CF). The most searched one, CO, usually means company: on an ACH line, "CO ID" is the sending company's ID and "CO ENTRY DESCR" is the description that company attached to the payment.
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Why statements are full of abbreviations
Card networks and the ACH system pass a limited number of characters for each transaction description, and banks fit the date, merchant and reference into that space. The result is lines like ACH DEBIT CO: GUSTO CO ENTRY DESCR: NET PAY or POS PUR 0523 SQ *COFFEE. Codes are not standardized across banks, and UK, Canadian and Australian banks use their own sets. When in doubt, read the abbreviation together with the amount, date and counterparty.
How money moved
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ACH | Automated Clearing House, the US network for direct deposits, payroll and bill payments |
| ATM | Automated teller machine withdrawal or deposit |
| BACS | UK automated payment system, used for payroll and direct debits |
| BP / BILL PAY | Online bill payment sent from your bank |
| CHK / CK | Check |
| DD | Direct debit (UK) or direct deposit (US), depending on the bank |
| EFT | Electronic funds transfer |
| FPS / FP | Faster Payment (UK) |
| INT'L / INTL | International transaction |
| MOB | Mobile banking transaction |
| ONL / OLB | Online banking |
| POS | Point of sale, a debit card purchase at a terminal |
| P2P | Person-to-person payment, such as Zelle |
| RTP | Real-time payment |
| SO / STO | Standing order, a fixed recurring payment (UK) |
| TFR / TRF / XFER | Transfer between accounts |
| WD / W/D | Withdrawal |
| WIRE / WT | Wire transfer |
What kind of entry it is
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| CO | Company, as in CO ID (company ID) or CO NAME on an ACH entry |
| CR | Credit, money added to the account |
| DR / DB | Debit, money taken out |
| DEP | Deposit |
| DES / DESCR | Description supplied by the sender |
| ID / IND ID | Individual ID, the reference the sender uses for you |
| PMT / PYMT | Payment |
| PPD | Prearranged payment and deposit, an ACH code for consumer payments |
| CCD | Corporate credit or debit, an ACH code for business-to-business payments |
| WEB | ACH entry authorized online |
| TEL | ACH entry authorized by phone |
| REF / REF# | Reference number |
| REV / RVSL | Reversal of an earlier transaction |
| RTN / RET | Returned item, a payment that bounced back |
| ADJ | Adjustment by the bank |
| PEND | Pending, authorized but not yet posted |
| REC / RCPT | Received or receipt |
| DIV | Dividend |
| INT | Interest earned or charged |
| CB / CHGBK | Chargeback |
| REFUND / RFND | Merchant refund |
Fees and charges
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| NSF | Non-sufficient funds, charged when a payment is returned unpaid |
| OD / O/D | Overdraft, or an overdraft fee |
| ODP | Overdraft protection transfer |
| SVC CHG / SC | Service charge |
| MAINT FEE | Monthly maintenance fee |
| FTF / FX FEE | Foreign transaction fee |
| ATM FEE | Out-of-network ATM fee |
| WIRE FEE | Fee for sending or receiving a wire |
| STOP PMT | Stop payment fee |
Put it into practice
Manual copy-paste is where errors begin
Split rows, drifting balances, missed transactions: they all trace back to re-keying. DocuClipper preserves the bank's layout so debits, credits, and totals tie out the first time.
Balances and summary lines
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| BAL | Balance |
| BF / B/F | Balance brought forward from the previous statement |
| CF / C/F | Balance carried forward to the next statement |
| OB | Opening balance |
| CB | Closing balance (also used for chargeback, so check context) |
| AVL / AVAIL | Available balance |
| YTD | Year to date |
| APY | Annual percentage yield on savings |
| APR | Annual percentage rate on borrowing |
Account and card terms
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| A/C / ACCT | Account |
| CHK / DDA | Checking account (DDA is demand deposit account) |
| SAV / SAVG | Savings account |
| MMA / MMDA | Money market account |
| CD | Certificate of deposit |
| IRA | Individual retirement account |
| VIS / MC | Visa or Mastercard |
| SQ * / TST* / PP* | Prefixes added by payment processors (Square, Toast, PayPal) before the merchant name |
| AMZN MKTP | Amazon Marketplace |
How to decode a line you do not recognize
- Split the line. Most descriptions follow a pattern: method (ACH, POS), counterparty, reference.
ACH DEBIT CO: IRS CO ENTRY DESCR: USATAXPYMTis an ACH debit from the IRS for a tax payment. - Check the amount and date. A recurring amount on the same day each month is usually a subscription, loan or standing order.
- Look for the processor prefix.
SQ *andPP*point to the real merchant name that follows. - Ask the bank. If the counterparty still makes no sense, the bank can tell you who originated the transaction.
Unrecognized lines are worth chasing. A small unknown debit is a common first sign of card fraud.
Abbreviations at volume
For a bookkeeper, abbreviations are a categorization problem more than a reading problem. "ACH DEBIT CO: ADP" is payroll, "POS PUR SHELL" is fuel, and coding hundreds of those lines by hand is slow. DocuClipper extracts the raw description from each statement line, then categorizes transactions into accounts you can review before exporting to Excel, QuickBooks or Xero. The transaction categorization guide explains how to build the category list, and the bank transactions guide covers each transaction type.
For the rest of the statement layout, see how to read a bank statement.
FAQ
What does CO mean on a bank statement?
CO usually stands for company. On an ACH line, CO ID is the identifier of the company that sent or pulled the payment, and CO ENTRY DESCR is the short description that company supplied, such as PAYROLL or BILL PMT.
What does TFR mean in online banking?
TFR means transfer, money moved between two accounts. It is common on UK statements. US banks more often write TRANSFER or XFER.
What does POS mean on a bank statement?
POS means point of sale. It marks a debit card purchase made at a card terminal in a store.
What does NSF mean?
NSF means non-sufficient funds. The bank returned a payment because the account did not have enough money, and usually charged a fee.
Are bank statement abbreviations the same at every bank?
No. Common codes like ACH, POS and NSF are widely used, but each bank sets its own description formats, and UK, Canadian and Australian banks use different codes.
Written by the DocuClipper editorial team. Last updated October 9, 2026.
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