Visa's Acquirer Monitoring Program, or VAMP, is now an important part of fraud and dispute management for card-not-present merchants.
Although VAMP is not limited to businesses formally classified as high risk, it can be particularly important for higher-risk, specialist and complex merchants whose payment-provider relationships may already involve closer underwriting, reserves, settlement controls or enhanced monitoring.
The programme changed materially in 2025, consolidating Visa's previous fraud and dispute monitoring programmes into a single framework.
Those changes are now fully relevant to merchants in 2026.
For higher-risk merchants, the important question is no longer:
“What changes when VAMP arrives?”
It is:
“What is our current VAMP position, what is driving the ratio, and could deterioration affect our acquiring relationship?”
This matters because VAMP looks at relevant fraud and disputes together, rather than treating chargebacks as an isolated risk metric.
What Is VAMP?
VAMP stands for Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program.
Visa uses the programme to monitor fraud, disputes and enumeration activity across acquirers and merchants processing card-not-present Visa transactions.
The current core VAMP ratio is count based:
Count of relevant fraud (TC40) + disputes (TC15) ÷ count of settled transactions (TC05)
Visa states that the programme covers relevant domestic and cross-border card-not-present VisaNet transactions.
Read Visa's current VAMP fact sheet.
MAS View
VAMP matters to all relevant card-not-present merchants, but higher-risk businesses can have less room for deterioration before payment-provider appetite, reserves, settlement or continued processing become an issue.
What Changed Under VAMP?
Visa consolidated its previous Visa Fraud Monitoring Program and Visa Dispute Monitoring Program into the wider VAMP framework.
Visa now monitors:
- fraud;
- disputes; and
- enumeration activity such as card testing.
This means a merchant's risk position cannot be understood simply by looking at its traditional chargeback ratio.
Merchants should have visibility across:
- fraud count;
- dispute count;
- settled transaction count;
- card-testing activity;
- pre-dispute resolutions;
- authentication performance;
- refunds; and
- the underlying reasons customers are disputing transactions.
What Is the Visa VAMP Merchant Threshold in 2026?
For the EU, AP, Canada and US regions, Visa's published Excessive Merchant VAMP threshold was reduced to 150 basis points from 1 April 2026.
150 basis points is equivalent to 1.5%.
Visa also publishes a minimum monthly count requirement of 1,500 relevant fraud and disputes for the merchant threshold in these regions.
The VAMP ratio and monthly count criteria need to be considered together.
| Current published EU merchant measure | Threshold |
|---|
| VAMP Excessive Merchant ratio |
150bps / 1.5% |
| Minimum monthly fraud + dispute count |
1,500 |
| 150bps threshold effective |
1 April 2026 |
Visa's programme also includes acquirer-level thresholds, meaning the merchant's position can interact with the wider performance of the acquiring portfolio.
Businesses should confirm their individual monitoring status with their acquirer or processor rather than relying only on an internal calculation.
VAMP Is Not Just a Chargeback Threshold
This is one of the most important changes for merchants.
Historically, businesses often focused almost entirely on:
chargebacks ÷ transactions.
Under VAMP, relevant fraud also forms part of the core ratio.
That means a merchant with relatively few conventional disputes could still have a wider problem if fraud reports are elevated.
Likewise, reducing chargebacks without understanding fraud may not solve the underlying VAMP exposure.
For a broader guide to dispute prevention and root-cause analysis, see our 2026 guide to reducing chargebacks.
What Is TC40 Fraud?
TC40 data relates to fraud reporting within the Visa ecosystem.
It should not simply be interpreted as another name for a chargeback.
A transaction can contribute to the fraud picture even where the merchant is focused primarily on conventional customer disputes.
Merchants should therefore ask their provider what fraud data it can make available and how that relates to their VAMP position.
What Is TC15?
TC15 relates to dispute activity within Visa's transaction data.
The current VAMP ratio combines relevant TC40 fraud and TC15 disputes against settled TC05 transactions, subject to Visa's programme rules and exclusions.
For merchants, the practical takeaway is simpler:
monitor both fraud and disputes, not just chargebacks visible in the merchant portal.
Can Pre-Dispute Tools Help With VAMP?
Potentially.
Visa's current fact sheet states that disputes resolved through qualifying pre-dispute solutions can be excluded from the VAMP ratio, subject to the timing of the relevant data extract and programme conditions.
These services can potentially allow a merchant to identify and resolve certain disputes before they progress through the conventional chargeback process.
Depending on the payment setup, that might allow the merchant to:
- issue a refund;
- stop fulfilment;
- cancel a subscription;
- identify fraud;
- resolve a customer complaint; or
- prevent an avoidable dispute progressing further.
However, pre-dispute tools should not be treated as a substitute for solving the underlying cause of poor payment performance.
What About Rapid Dispute Resolution?
Rapid Dispute Resolution, or RDR, is one example of a pre-dispute resolution mechanism available within the Visa ecosystem through relevant provider arrangements.
Its usefulness depends on:
- provider support;
- merchant eligibility;
- the dispute type;
- configured rules;
- transaction economics; and
- the merchant's wider chargeback strategy.
The decision should therefore be based on whether the tool improves the merchant's overall fraud and dispute economics rather than simply trying to manipulate one ratio.
What Is VAMP Enumeration?
VAMP also includes controls relating to enumeration.
Enumeration typically includes activity such as automated card testing, where large numbers of payment credentials are tested to identify valid combinations.
Visa currently publishes two relevant enumeration measures:
- VAMP Enumeration Ratio: 2,000 basis points; and
- VAMP Enumeration Transaction Count: 300,000 transactions.
Visa requires acquirers to take proactive steps to prevent merchants exceeding the relevant enumeration thresholds.
Why Does This Matter?
A merchant may experience very large numbers of attempted transactions without initially seeing a corresponding increase in successful fraud.
That can still indicate a card-testing problem.
Merchants should consider controls such as:
- velocity rules;
- bot detection;
- device intelligence;
- transaction throttling;
- authentication;
- IP analysis;
- fraud scoring; and
- provider-specific card-testing controls.
Who Is Most Exposed to VAMP?
VAMP is not limited to businesses labelled “high risk”.
Any merchant processing relevant card-not-present Visa transactions can potentially be affected.
However, some business models can naturally create greater exposure to fraud or disputes.
Examples can include:
- subscription businesses;
- online dating;
- digital products;
- travel and future delivery;
- ticketing;
- supplements;
- high-ticket ecommerce;
- trial and continuity models;
- international ecommerce;
- marketplaces;
- businesses targeted by card testing; and
- merchants experiencing rapid growth.
This does not mean every merchant in these sectors will breach VAMP thresholds.
Actual performance depends on the individual business and its payment activity.
Why Subscription Merchants Need to Pay Particular Attention
Subscription models can produce disputes for reasons beyond conventional payment fraud.
Customers may dispute transactions because:
- they did not understand a trial would convert;
- they forgot about the subscription;
- they did not recognise the descriptor;
- they believed they had cancelled;
- renewal timing was unclear;
- the price changed; or
- the cancellation journey was difficult.
Reducing those disputes can require product and customer-experience changes rather than simply stronger fraud screening.
See our Subscription Payment Processing guide for the wider payment requirements.
What Should Merchants Do About VAMP in 2026?
1. Establish Your Current Position
Ask your acquirer or processor for visibility into:
- relevant fraud count;
- dispute count;
- settled transaction count;
- VAMP ratio;
- enumeration activity;
- current programme status; and
- recent trend.
2. Analyse the Root Cause
Break the problem down by:
- fraud;
- chargeback reason;
- product;
- country;
- transaction value;
- subscription cohort;
- payment channel;
- MID;
- fulfilment period; and
- customer journey.
3. Review Fraud Controls
Assess whether current controls adequately address:
- card testing;
- stolen-card use;
- account takeover;
- transaction velocity;
- high-risk geographies;
- unusual customer behaviour; and
- authentication.
4. Reduce Preventable Disputes
Review:
- billing descriptors;
- customer service;
- refund speed;
- subscription communication;
- delivery;
- cancellation;
- product descriptions; and
- customer expectations.
5. Understand Your Provider's Risk Appetite
Ask how the acquirer or PSP manages merchants approaching VAMP thresholds.
Possible responses can include:
- additional monitoring;
- risk-control requirements;
- remediation plans;
- changes to reserves;
- settlement changes;
- processing restrictions; or
- review of the merchant relationship.
6. Build a Contingency Where Necessary
If the provider has indicated that the merchant relationship may no longer be sustainable, understand alternative payment-provider options before processing is interrupted.
Do not, however, assume that simply changing processor will solve a fraud or dispute problem created by the merchant's own customer journey.
Should Merchants Use More Than One Payment Provider Because of VAMP?
Not automatically.
Multiple PSPs or acquirers can be appropriate for legitimate reasons including:
- regional acquiring;
- different legal entities;
- resilience;
- different payment methods;
- different Merchant Category Codes; or
- complex enterprise payment architecture.
But using several providers does not remove the need for each provider to understand and underwrite the merchant accurately.
It should not be used to hide fraud or dispute activity or circumvent provider or scheme requirements.
For businesses with a genuine multi-acquirer requirement, see our Acquirer-Agnostic Payment Gateways guide.
Can Changing Payment Provider Solve a VAMP Problem?
Sometimes a provider change becomes necessary because the existing acquirer no longer has appetite for the merchant.
But changing provider does not remove the underlying transactions that generate fraud and disputes.
Before switching, establish whether the problem is primarily:
- merchant operations;
- fraud controls;
- subscription design;
- fulfilment;
- refunds;
- customer service;
- card testing;
- provider risk appetite; or
- a combination of factors.
If the existing facility is at risk of termination, see our Terminated Merchant Facilities guide.
The MAS VAMP Review
When a merchant is concerned about VAMP, we would separate the problem into five areas.
1. Current Metrics
What are the fraud, dispute, settlement and enumeration numbers?
2. Root Cause
Which customers, products, payment journeys or behaviours are creating the risk?
3. Remediation
What operational, technical or customer-experience changes could reduce fraud and disputes?
4. Provider Position
What does the merchant's acquirer require, and does the provider remain comfortable supporting the business?
5. Contingency
If provider appetite has changed, which alternative acquiring routes are genuinely appropriate for the business?
MAS View
VAMP should be treated as an early-warning and payment-quality issue, not simply a threshold to avoid at the last possible moment.
How Merchant Advice Service Approaches VAMP-Related Provider Problems
Merchant Advice Service does not calculate Visa's official VAMP status for merchants and does not determine card-scheme compliance.
Our role becomes relevant where fraud, disputes or scheme-monitoring concerns begin affecting the wider payment-provider relationship.
We may look at:
- the business model;
- current payment provider;
- processing volume;
- fraud;
- chargebacks;
- future-delivery exposure;
- transaction values;
- customer geography;
- provider risk appetite;
- gateway and fraud tools; and
- whether an alternative provider route is genuinely required.
Final VAMP calculations, remediation requirements, underwriting and merchant acceptance remain with Visa and the relevant acquiring/payment-provider organisations.
For more on our approach, see How Merchant Advice Service Works.
Sources & Further Reading
Visa — Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program
Visa's current published VAMP fact sheet covering the programme calculation, fraud and dispute metrics, merchant thresholds and enumeration monitoring.
Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program fact sheet
Visa — VAMP Program Update
Visa's background on the current programme and its approach to reducing fraud and disputes across the payments ecosystem.
Visa VAMP program update
Related Merchant Advice Service Guidance
Editorial and Commercial Disclosure
Merchant Advice Service is an independent payments information, comparison and provider-matching service.
MAS may receive commission or a referral fee from some payment providers where a business chooses to proceed following an introduction. This does not determine the factual information or provider-selection principles included in this guide.
Merchant Advice Service is not affiliated with Visa and Visa has not paid for inclusion in this article.
VAMP calculations, thresholds, programme status and remediation requirements are controlled by Visa and the relevant acquiring/payment-provider organisations.
The 150bps threshold described in this guide reflects Visa's published Excessive Merchant threshold for AP, Canada, EU and US regions from 1 April 2026 and is subject to Visa's applicable programme criteria, including minimum monthly counts.
Fraud tools, pre-dispute services, 3D Secure and chargeback-management tools cannot guarantee that a merchant will remain below a particular VAMP threshold.
Provider risk appetite, scheme rules and VAMP requirements can change. Merchants should confirm their current position with their acquirer or payment processor.
Merchant Advice Service does not guarantee provider acceptance, continued processing or a particular VAMP outcome.
Visa programme information last checked: 26 August 2026
Article last reviewed: August 2026
This guide provides general payment information and should not be treated as legal, regulatory or card-scheme compliance advice.
