# Customize the Express Dashboard

Learn how to customize the Express Dashboard for your users.

The Express Dashboard allows a platform’s connected account users to view their available balance, see upcoming *payouts* (A payout is the transfer of funds to an external account, usually a bank account, in the form of a deposit), and track their earnings in real time. It displays an **Activity** feed, an **Earnings** chart, and your platform’s name and icon. Learn how to customise the Express Dashboard for your users in this guide.

To learn more about each feature in the Express Dashboard, see [Express Dashboard](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/express-dashboard.md).

## Add your platform's brand name and icon

You can display your platform’s brand name, icon, and customise theming in the Express Dashboard.

Access your [Express branding settings](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/connect/express-dashboard/branding), enter your platform’s `business_name`, upload your platform’s icon, and customise your theming settings. When satisfied with the preview, save your changes. If you already saved your brand information before reading this guide, skip this step.

## Customise features

You can configure the Express Dashboard features available to your connected accounts by using the [Express features settings](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/connect/express-dashboard/features).

If you turn off a feature in your Express Dashboard settings, your connected accounts don’t see it in the Express Dashboard. Before you go live, we recommend configuring your Express Dashboard settings in a testing environment and previewing them with a test connected account.

## Set custom descriptions for charges and transfers

By default, the **Transactions** list on the Express Dashboard displays generic descriptions for charges and transfers (for example: `Payment on {YOUR_PLATFORM}`).

First, determine which type of charge your platform uses. The two recommended charge types for Express connected accounts are [Destination Charges](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/charges.md#destination) and [Separate Charges and Transfers](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/charges.md#separate-charges-transfers).

After you determine the charge type, use the following instructions to update your integration.

### Destination charges

To update the [description](https://docs.stripe.com/api/charges/object.md#charge_object-description) on a payment object that’s visible to your platform’s users, you need to use the Stripe API. This applies to all platforms that use [destination charges](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/destination-charges.md).

1. Find the existing transfer object you created for an account by finding the latest [charge](https://docs.stripe.com/api/payment_intents/object.md#payment_intent_object-charges) created on the [PaymentIntent](https://docs.stripe.com/api/payment_intents/object.md).
1. Use the charge object to find the [transfer](https://docs.stripe.com/api/charges/object.md#charge_object-transfer) object associated with the charge.
1. Use the transfer object to find the [destination_payment](https://docs.stripe.com/api/transfers/object.md#transfer_object-destination_payment) ID that exists on the transfer.
1. Call the [Update Charge](https://docs.stripe.com/api/charges/update.md) API to update the [description](https://docs.stripe.com/api/charges/update.md#update_charge-description) on the destination payment using the `destination_payment` ID.

> The [destination_payment](https://docs.stripe.com/api/transfers/object.md#transfer_object-destination_payment) object belongs to the connected account, so you’ll need to set [the Stripe-Account header](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/authentication.md) to the connected account’s ID to make this call.

```curl
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/charges/{{PAYMENT_ID}} \
  -u "<<YOUR_SECRET_KEY>>:" \
  -H "Stripe-Account: {{CONNECTEDACCOUNT_ID}}" \
  -d "description=My custom description"
```

This description becomes visible on the charge after you’ve written this field.

Learn more about [creating destination charges on your platform](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/destination-charges.md).

### Separate charges and transfers

To update the [description](https://docs.stripe.com/api/charges/object.md#charge_object-description) on a payment object that’s visible to your platform’s users, you need to use the Stripe API. This applies to platforms that use [separate charges and transfers](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/separate-charges-and-transfers.md).

1. Use the transfer object to find the [destination_payment](https://docs.stripe.com/api/transfers/object.md#transfer_object-destination_payment) ID that exists on the transfer.
1. Call the [Update Charge](https://docs.stripe.com/api/charges/update.md) API to update the [description](https://docs.stripe.com/api/charges/update.md#update_charge-description) on the destination payment using the `destination_payment` ID found in the previous step.

> The [destination_payment](https://docs.stripe.com/api/transfers/object.md#transfer_object-destination_payment) object belongs to the connected account, so you’ll need to set [the Stripe-Account header](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/authentication.md) to the connected account’s ID to make this call.

```curl
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/charges/{{PAYMENT_ID}} \
  -u "<<YOUR_SECRET_KEY>>:" \
  -H "Stripe-Account: {{CONNECTEDACCOUNT_ID}}" \
  -d "description=My custom description"
```

This description becomes visible on the charge after you’ve written this field.

Learn more about [creating separate charges and transfers](https://docs.stripe.com/connect/separate-charges-and-transfers.md).

## Manage Stripe communications with your connected accounts

Use your platform Dashboard to manage communications that your connected accounts receive from Stripe.

### Emails

Stripe occasionally sends emails to your connected accounts to provide information and keep them in compliance. You can customise these emails on the [Connect Emails settings page](https://dashboard.stripe.com/test/settings/connect/emails).

### Text messages

By default, when a connected account using the Express Dashboard receives its first payout, Stripe notifies them with a text message. You can disable or re-enable these notifications on the [Connect text settings page](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/connect/sms).