diff --git a/src/app/transactions/page.tsx b/src/app/transactions/page.tsx
index 8602798..e22104c 100644
--- a/src/app/transactions/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/transactions/page.tsx
@@ -86,20 +86,19 @@ function SaveAsRulePrompt({
   const createRule = useCreateRule();
   const [saving, setSaving] = useState(false);
 
-  // Build a sensible default rule from the transaction context
-  const merchantMatch = tx.effective_merchant || tx.description;
+  // Build a sensible default rule from the transaction context.
+  // Prefer merchant_normalized (full name, exact match) over a partial description word.
+  const hasMerchant = !!tx.effective_merchant;
+  const conditionField = hasMerchant ? "merchant_normalized" : "description";
+  const conditionOperator = hasMerchant ? "equals" : "contains";
+  const conditionValue = hasMerchant ? tx.effective_merchant : tx.description;
+
   const defaultName =
     field === "category"
-      ? `${merchantMatch} → ${formatCategory(newValue)}`
-      : `Rename ${tx.effective_merchant || tx.description} → ${newValue}`;
+      ? `${conditionValue} → ${formatCategory(newValue)}`
+      : `Rename ${conditionValue} → ${newValue}`;
 
-  const conditions = [
-    {
-      field: "description",
-      operator: "contains",
-      value: (tx.effective_merchant || tx.description).split(" ")[0] ?? "",
-    },
-  ];
+  const conditions = [{ field: conditionField, operator: conditionOperator, value: conditionValue }];
   const actions =
     field === "category"
       ? { set_category: newValue }
@@ -118,7 +117,7 @@ function SaveAsRulePrompt({
         Automatically apply this {field === "category" ? "category" : "merchant name"} to future matching transactions.
       </p>
       <div className="bg-zinc-900 rounded-lg px-3 py-2 text-xs text-zinc-300 mb-3 space-y-1">
-        <p><span className="text-zinc-500">If</span> description contains <span className="text-white">"{conditions[0].value}"</span></p>
+        <p><span className="text-zinc-500">If</span> {conditionField === "merchant_normalized" ? "merchant" : "description"} {conditionOperator} <span className="text-white">"{conditionValue}"</span></p>
         <p>
           <span className="text-zinc-500">Then</span>{" "}
           {field === "category"