POS stands for point of sale. POS DEBIT, POS PURCHASE and similar labels mean you paid with your debit card at a terminal, in a store or sometimes online. Banks choose their own wording, so the same kind of payment can look different from one bank to another.
After the label you usually see the merchant name, then a mix of a date, a terminal or store number, and a city and state. Sometimes a processor prefix such as SQ * appears too.
Example lines with made-up merchants, and what the Merchant Cleanup API returns for them today:
| Raw line | Cleaned merchant | Processor | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
POS DEBIT RIVERSIDE FUEL 57444 SAN JOSE CA | Riverside Fuel | - | auto_and_transport |
POS PURCHASE SQ *MAPLE STREET COFFEE 1234 OAKLAND CA | Maple Street Coffee | Square | meals |
POS PURCHASE PINE HILL BOOKSTORE PORTLAND OR | Pine Hill Bookstore | - | other |
Results are automated suggestions and can be wrong; check anything that matters.
Yes. It means money came out of your checking account through your debit card, rather than being charged to a credit line.
Usually a store or terminal number, a transaction date or a reference code. They rarely help identify the merchant and can be removed for bookkeeping.
Usually not. It describes how you paid, not what you bought. Categorise by the merchant instead.
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Have a PDF bank statement instead of a CSV? RowSmith converts bank statements to CSV or Excel in your browser, then you can clean the descriptions here.
More guides: What does SQ * mean on a bank statement? - What does TST* mean on a bank statement? - What does PAYPAL * mean on a bank statement? - What does SP * mean on a bank statement? - What do ACH and CHECKCARD mean on a bank statement? - How to clean bank transaction descriptions