What Is the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP)?
The Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) is Visa’s next-generation initiative to help acquirers and merchants manage fraud and disputes more effectively. Starting April 1, 2025, Visa will retire its Visa Fraud Monitoring Program (VFMP) and Visa Dispute Monitoring Program (VDMP) for merchants in the Visa Europe region and will consolidate multiple existing programs into a single framework called VAMP, offering stricter oversight on fraud and chargebacks.
This program introduces new thresholds and metrics, including the VAMP Ratio, which measures fraudulent and disputed transactions against total settled transactions. Understanding these changes is important for businesses to stay compliant and maintain uninterrupted payment processing capabilities.
Key Components of the Visa VAMP Program
- VAMP Ratio – A metric for the ratio of fraud and non-fraud disputes to evaluate merchant and acquirer performance.
- Enumeration Monitoring – Increased scrutiny of card testing fraud, which involves rapid, small-value transaction attempts to validate stolen card details.
- Stricter Compliance Thresholds – New benchmarks that determine whether an acquirer or merchant is exceeding acceptable fraud and dispute levels.
- Risk-Based Enforcement – Acquirers and merchants exceeding thresholds may face financial penalties or even termination from Visa’s network.
How the VAMP Ratio Works
The VAMP Ratio helps Visa measure an acquirer’s or merchant’s exposure to fraud and disputes. It is calculated using the following formula:
This ratio is only applicable to card-absent transactions and is calculated monthly. To ensure that the data is meaningful, a minimum threshold of 1,000 transactions is required for a valid calculation. To calculate the VAMP Ratio, the following formula is used: VAMP Ratio = Total Fraud Transactions (TC40) + Non-Fraud Disputes (TC15) / Total Settled CNP Transactions.
Non-fraud disputes are defined under specific reason codes, including TC15 messages and disputes with reason codes 11, 12, and 13.
VAMP Compliance Thresholds
Visa has two sets of thresholds. One for acquirers and one for merchants. For each of these groups, they have an initial set of thresholds that go into effect at launch and a second set that is introduced in 2026. [1]
Card Acquirer VAMP Thresholds
| Above Standard VAMP Ratio | Excessive VAMP Ratio | |
| Initial threshold (starting April 1st 2025) | N/A | 0.5% |
| 2026 Threshold | 0.3% | 0.5% |
Merchant VAMP Thresholds
| Excessive VAMP Ratio | Enumeration | |
| Initial threshold (starting April 1st 2025) | 1.5% | 20% |
| 2026 Threshold | 0.9% | 20% |
What Are the VAMP Fees for Non-Compliance?
Exceeding the VAMP thresholds may lead to enforcement actions from Visa, including fines and the potential termination of merchant accounts. [3], [4] Visa says they will grant a three-month grace period for first-time offenders within a rolling 12 month period to bring VAMP thresholds into the standard range. After the grace period expires, they will be subject to fees for each dispute.
Acquirers – $5 per fraudulent/disputed transaction for Above Standard VAMP ratio
Acquirers – $10 per fraudulent/disputed transaction for Excessive VAMP ratio
Merchants – $10 per fraudulent or disputed transaction for Excessive VAMP ratio
Why VAMP Matters for Merchants and Acquirers
VAMP introduces new compliance measures that impact both acquirers and merchants. The VAMP Ratio serves as a performance indicator for merchants and as a measure of risk for acquirers. If an acquirer’s portfolio of merchants collectively exceeds the set limits, it risks being categorized as ‘Excessive’ or ‘Above Standard’. This could lead acquirers to impose stricter limits on individual merchants to protect their overall risk profile. For this reason, it is imperative that merchants work with acquirers who understand how to manage their overall risk profile and provide robust fraud protection to merchants. Businesses in industries like online gaming and nutraceuticals, with elevated fraud and chargeback risks must work with a card acquired that understands their industries unique needs and how to manage risk to maintain long-term, uninterrupted payment processing.
How Merchants Can Prepare for VAMP Requirements
- Higher Fraud and Chargeback Accountability: Merchants must improve fraud prevention strategies to avoid penalties.
- Mandatory Risk Management Practices: Businesses with high dispute rates must submit remediation plans and demonstrate proactive fraud prevention.
- Proactively address common causes of chargebacks such as misleading product descriptions and customer support availability.
How to Stay Compliant with VAMP
Merchants and acquirers should take the following steps to reduce risk and maintain compliance under VAMP:
Fraud Prevention Strategies:
- Implement real-time fraud detection tools to identify and block suspicious transactions.
- Use 3D Secure authentication to reduce fraud-related disputes.
- Monitor TC40 reports to track fraudulent transactions flagged by issuers.
- Avoid high-risk transactions that may trigger Visa’s fraud thresholds.
Chargeback Management Best Practices:
- Utilise Automated Pre-Dispute Resolution to automatically resolve eligible disputes.
- Leverage Rapyd’s Dynamic Soft Descriptors to customize and clarify the name of your business on customer statements to avoid accidental disputes.
- Maintain clear transaction records and customer communication to reduce chargebacks.
- Track dispute metrics and proactively address recurring issues.
Partner with the Right Payment Provider:
- Work with an acquirer , like Rapyd, that offers advanced fraud prevention and dispute resolution tools.
- Ensure that your payment provider has experience navigating Visa’s compliance requirements.
The Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program represents a significant shift towards a more robust risk management framework in the payment processing industry. By holding acquirers accountable for their merchants’ performance and mandating proactive measures to address fraud and disputes, VAMP aims to enhance transaction integrity, protect consumers, and ensure a healthier financial ecosystem for all parties involved.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
VAMP stands for Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program. It is a comprehensive initiative designed to monitor and manage risks associated with acquirers and merchants in the payment processing ecosystem. VAMP integrates two critical aspects: chargeback management and fraud prevention, facilitating more efficient oversight of fraudulent activities and dispute resolutions within a unified framework
The VAMP ratio is calculated by summing the total number of fraudulent transactions and disputed transactions over a specified period, then dividing that total by the number of sales transactions during the same period. This ratio helps Visa assess the level of risk for each acquirer and merchant.
As of January 2026, the threshold limits for the VAMP ratio are set at 0.9% for merchants and 0.3% for acquirers. If either party exceeds these limits, Visa may intervene and take corrective actions, which may include fines or other restrictions.
The VAMP Enumeration Ratio is a specific metric that focuses on identifying and addressing card testing fraud, also known as enumeration fraud. VAMP introduces changes to the enumeration ratio to combat enumeration attacks. The enumeration ratio is:
Number of enumerated transactions (approved and declined) / total card-not-present authorized transactions.
High-risk industries, such as gaming, adult content platforms or CBD merchants, often face higher rates of fraud and disputes. With the introduction of VAMP, it is crucial for these merchants to actively manage and reduce instances of fraud and chargebacks to remain compliant with Visa’s standards and avoid potential penalties.
To prepare for the VAMP program, merchants should focus on enhancing their fraud prevention measures and chargeback management processes. This may include implementing clearer dispute resolution processes, providing detailed transaction documentation, and maintaining open communication with acquirers about risk management strategies.
Solve Payment Challenges Once And For All Merchants with Rapyd
VAMP’s changes demand an experienced payment partner that helps businesses reduce fraud, manage chargebacks, and optimise transaction success. Rapyd provides acquirers and merchants with powerful solutions to navigate compliance and improve payment performance.
Why Choose Rapyd?
- Direct Visa and Mastercard acquiring in the UK, Europe, Israel and Singapore
- Cards, plus Google Pay, Apple Pay and hundreds of payment methods
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- Among the best authorisation rates globally
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