Fraud & Chargebacks: VISA Acquiring Monitoring Program (VAMP)

VISA has recently consolidated its dispute monitoring programs, integrating the existing VAMP, Visa Fraud Monitoring Program, and Visa Dispute Monitoring Program into a single global program: the Visa Acquiring Monitoring Program (VAMP).

Announced last year, the program has undergone several changes, with the most recent update in May 2025 when VISA announced further revisions to the VAMP ratio calculations.

VAMP enforcement officially starts in October 01, 2025, as the program’s advisory period officially ends on September 30, 2025.

The VAMP has been introduced to target the fraud and enumeration attacks. It seeks to ultimately reduce fraud and enumeration across the global payments ecosystem by helping acquirers improve their risk controls.

The new program creates more seamless controls and processes for acquirers and merchants to effectively deter fraud and enumeration and effectively manage disputes, contributing to a more secure environment.

What are the changes happening for merchants?

The core of the program is to calculate everything into one ratio. Merchants don’t need to track the chargebacks and fraud ratio differently.

Now only one ratio to keep track of, a single, count-based ratio (VAMP ratio) that includes key components of fraud and disputes on card-not-present Visa transactions (domestic and cross-border).

The formula is:

VAMP Ratio = Count of [Fraud (TC40) + Disputes (TC15)] ÷ Count of Settled Transactions (TC05)

Disputes/frauds that are excluded from the ratio:

• Excludes disputes (TC15) resolved through pre-dispute solutions like Visa’s Rapid Dispute Resolution, or Verifi CDRN, contingent on the timing of the data extract.

• Excludes TC 40 fraud qualified for Compelling Evidence 3.0, contingent on the timing of the data extract

To help you understand it better, if a cardholder questions a transaction, and the issue is resolved before it turns into a full dispute/chargeback (TC15), then it may be excluded from the VAMP ratio. 

Similarly, Visa’s Compelling Evidence 3.0 allows merchants/acquirers to provide transactional history proof (same device, same account, prior undisputed payments, etc.) that shows the cardholder actually made the purchase.

If TC40 fraud cases qualify under CE3.0, Visa excludes them from the VAMP ratio.

*But, timing matters: if CE3.0 validation or pre-dispute solutions happen after Visa extracts the data, the exclusion may not apply until the next cycle.

What are the VAMP thresholds?

For Acquirers:

• Above Standard if its VAMP ratio is ≥50bps

• Excessive if ≥70bps

For Merchants:

Merchant thresholds vary by regions, and it is rolled out in phases

• Initial phase is from 1 June 2025 to 1 April 2026

• Final Thresholds will come into effect after 1 April 2026

LAC - Latin American and Caribbean

CEMEA - Central Europe, Middle East and Africa

Note: The minimum threshold in AP, CANADA, EU and US, will be reduced to 150 BPS on 1st April 2026

The above limits are for fraud and disputes. Visa also has VAMP thresholds for enumeration as well

It is for acquirers to take proactive steps to prevent merchants from exceeding enumeration thresholds:

• VAMP Enumeration Ratio = [Count of Enumerated Authorization Transactions (Approved + Declined)] ÷ [Count of Authorization Transactions (Approved+ Declined)], ≥ 2000 bps

• VAMP Enumeration Transaction Count, defined as Enumerated Transactions (Approved + Declined), ≥ 300,000

In short, the VAMP Enumeration ratio should not be greater than 2000 BPS (20%) and transactions count less than 300,000. 

Anytime it is found that an Acquirer or a merchant has crossed the limit, they will be automatically enrolled in the VAMP program.

What are the VAMP fees?

If an acquirer is added into the VAMP program, then they will be fined for each TC15 and TC40 file against merchants in the portfolio, except those that have their VAMP ratio under control, i.e. less than 0.5%.

Merchants enrolled in VAMP will be charged for each case. This fine applies only to merchants if the acquirer has a VAMP ratio under 0.5%.

What solutions can help merchants?

Based on our research and talking with multiple acquirers in EU and Asia Pacific, merchants can safeguard themselves or at least prevent the fraud and disputes using:

• Making sure to stop unauthorised transaction - Couple of things you can do

  • Enabling Transaction Risk Analysis (TRA) to do real time fraud analysis. If the transaction passes the parameters, the user can do a seamless checkout. If not, the secondary authentication would require from the user

  • Enabling Address Verification Service (AVS) - it will check the billing address matches with address with issuer or not

  • 3DS - for all the regions even if it is not mandated in certain regions. E.g. North America. For High-risk merchant it is important to enable 3DS for all goes to prevent rejection from issuer side and shifting the liability toward issuer if dispute happens 

  • Sign up to tools like RDR, CDRN, Compelling Evident 3.0, Ethoca

• To prevent friendly fraud, add refund and privacy policies terms on the website at the footer and during the subscription checkout page as well. 

• Use your brand name as a billing descriptor to avoid the confusion in the buyer’s bank statements. Mention it during the checkout so the buyer gets familiar with it.

Need more information on the VAMP and how you can safeguard your business from it, PayConsults can help.

We are an end to end payment consultancy working with worldwide acquirers to manage payments for high-risk merchants.

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