diff --git a/src/pretix/api/views/organizer.py b/src/pretix/api/views/organizer.py
index f1d41959f2..fadee11b27 100644
--- a/src/pretix/api/views/organizer.py
+++ b/src/pretix/api/views/organizer.py
@@ -168,16 +168,19 @@ class GiftCardViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
         value = serializers.DecimalField(max_digits=10, decimal_places=2).to_internal_value(
             request.data.get('value')
         )
+        text = serializers.CharField(allow_blank=True, allow_null=True).to_internal_value(
+            request.data.get('text', '')
+        )
         if gc.value + value < Decimal('0.00'):
             return Response({
                 'value': ['The gift card does not have sufficient credit for this operation.']
             }, status=status.HTTP_409_CONFLICT)
-        gc.transactions.create(value=value)
+        gc.transactions.create(value=value, text=text)
         gc.log_action(
             'pretix.giftcards.transaction.manual',
             user=self.request.user,
             auth=self.request.auth,
-            data={'value': value}
+            data={'value': value, 'text': text}
         )
         return Response(GiftCardSerializer(gc).data, status=status.HTTP_200_OK)
 
diff --git a/src/pretix/base/migrations/0146_giftcardtransaction_text.py b/src/pretix/base/migrations/0146_giftcardtransaction_text.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..04c92c7ce1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pretix/base/migrations/0146_giftcardtransaction_text.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Generated by Django 2.2.4 on 2020-03-02 11:28
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('pretixbase', '0145_auto_20200210_1038'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name='giftcardtransaction',
+            name='text',
+            field=models.TextField(null=True),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/src/pretix/base/models/giftcards.py b/src/pretix/base/models/giftcards.py
index f92173f0ab..67181fa470 100644
--- a/src/pretix/base/models/giftcards.py
+++ b/src/pretix/base/models/giftcards.py
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ class GiftCardTransaction(models.Model):
         blank=True,
         on_delete=models.PROTECT
     )
+    text = models.TextField(blank=True, null=True)
 
     class Meta:
         ordering = ("datetime",)
diff --git a/src/pretix/control/templates/pretixcontrol/organizers/giftcard.html b/src/pretix/control/templates/pretixcontrol/organizers/giftcard.html
index 89b7e561c6..b6b05d74f7 100644
--- a/src/pretix/control/templates/pretixcontrol/organizers/giftcard.html
+++ b/src/pretix/control/templates/pretixcontrol/organizers/giftcard.html
@@ -45,50 +45,53 @@
                         {% trans "Transactions" %}
                     </h3>
                 </div>
-                <table class="panel-body table">
-                    <thead>
-                    <tr>
-                        <th>{% trans "Date" %}</th>
-                        <th>{% trans "Order" %}</th>
-                        <th class="text-right">{% trans "Value" %}</th>
-                    </tr>
-                    </thead>
-                    <tbody>
-                    {% for t in card.transactions.all %}
+                <form class="" method="post" action="">
+                    {% csrf_token %}
+                    <table class="panel-body table">
+                        <thead>
                         <tr>
-                            <td>{{ t.datetime|date:"SHORT_DATETIME_FORMAT" }}</td>
-                            <td>
-                                {% if t.order %}
-                                    <a href="{% url "control:event.order" event=t.order.event.slug organizer=t.order.event.organizer.slug code=t.order.code %}">
-                                        {{ t.order.full_code }}
-                                    </a>
-                                {% else %}
-                                    <em>{% trans "Manual transaction" %}</em>
-                                {% endif %}
-                            </td>
-                            <td class="text-right">
-                                {{ t.value|money:card.currency }}
-                            </td>
+                            <th>{% trans "Date" %}</th>
+                            <th>{% trans "Order" %}</th>
+                            <th class="text-right">{% trans "Value" %}</th>
                         </tr>
-                    {% endfor %}
-                    </tbody>
-                    <tfoot>
-                    <tr>
-                        <td></td>
-                        <td></td>
-                        <td class="text-right">
-                            <form class="helper-display-inline form-inline" method="post" action="">
-                                {% csrf_token %}
+                        </thead>
+                        <tbody>
+                        {% for t in card.transactions.all %}
+                            <tr>
+                                <td>{{ t.datetime|date:"SHORT_DATETIME_FORMAT" }}</td>
+                                <td>
+                                    {% if t.order %}
+                                        <a href="{% url "control:event.order" event=t.order.event.slug organizer=t.order.event.organizer.slug code=t.order.code %}">
+                                            {{ t.order.full_code }}
+                                        </a>
+                                    {% else %}
+                                        <em>{% trans "Manual transaction" %}{% if t.text %}: {{ t.text }}{% endif %}</em>
+                                    {% endif %}
+                                </td>
+                                <td class="text-right">
+                                    {{ t.value|money:card.currency }}
+                                </td>
+                            </tr>
+                        {% endfor %}
+                        </tbody>
+                        <tfoot>
+                        <tr>
+                            <td></td>
+                            <td>
+                                <input type="text" class="form-control helper-display-block" placeholder="{% trans "Text" %}"
+                                        name="text">
+                            </td>
+                            <td class="text-right form-inline">
                                 <input type="text" class="form-control input-sm" placeholder="{% trans "Value" %}" name="value">
                                 <button class="btn btn-primary">
                                     <span class="fa fa-plus"></span>
                                 </button>
-                            </form>
-                        </td>
+                            </td>
 
-                    </tr>
-                    </tfoot>
-                </table>
+                        </tr>
+                        </tfoot>
+                    </table>
+                </form>
             </div>
         </div>
         <div class="col-md-2 col-xs-12">
diff --git a/src/pretix/control/views/organizer.py b/src/pretix/control/views/organizer.py
index 5667ad03a8..340eb63ecf 100644
--- a/src/pretix/control/views/organizer.py
+++ b/src/pretix/control/views/organizer.py
@@ -1010,12 +1010,14 @@ class GiftCardDetailView(OrganizerDetailViewMixin, OrganizerPermissionRequiredMi
                     messages.error(request, _('Gift cards are not allowed to have negative values.'))
                 else:
                     self.object.transactions.create(
-                        value=value
+                        value=value,
+                        text=request.POST.get('text') or None,
                     )
                     self.object.log_action(
                         'pretix.giftcards.transaction.manual',
                         data={
-                            'value': value
+                            'value': value,
+                            'text': request.POST.get('text')
                         },
                         user=self.request.user,
                     )
diff --git a/src/tests/api/test_giftcards.py b/src/tests/api/test_giftcards.py
index acda447b9d..020c6ca476 100644
--- a/src/tests/api/test_giftcards.py
+++ b/src/tests/api/test_giftcards.py
@@ -149,6 +149,18 @@ def test_giftcard_transact(token_client, organizer, event, giftcard):
     assert resp.status_code == 200
     giftcard.refresh_from_db()
     assert giftcard.value == Decimal('33.00')
+    resp = token_client.post(
+        '/api/v1/organizers/{}/giftcards/{}/transact/'.format(organizer.slug, giftcard.pk),
+        {
+            'value': '10.00',
+            'text': 'bla'
+        },
+        format='json'
+    )
+    assert resp.status_code == 200
+    giftcard.refresh_from_db()
+    assert giftcard.value == Decimal('43.00')
+    assert giftcard.transactions.last().text == 'bla'
 
 
 @pytest.mark.django_db