Visa Fraud and Chargeback Monitoring Programs Changing April 1st.
Note: Visa has been making some updates to VAMP as the April 1, 2025 launch approaches. The information in this blog reflects the latest information available at the time the blog was published.
Effective April 1, 2025, Visa is launching the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) which consolidates five existing fraud and dispute programs into a single acquirer program and streamlines 38 distinct remediation processes into a single process.
The goal of VAMP is to reduce fraud across the global payments ecosystem by helping improve risk controls. According to Visa, compared with previous programs, VAMP has the potential to address four times the amount of fraud globally, accounting for more than $2.5 billion of fraud losses.
VAMP will bring significant changes to the way fraud and chargebacks are measured and monitored. In an effort to create a more comprehensive view of fraud and chargebacks, it will establish a new framework that combines the existing Visa Dispute Monitoring Program (VDMP ) and the Visa Fraud Monitoring Program (VFMP).
VAMP Ratio Calculation
The new VAMP ratio is a transaction count-based metric that combines fraud and non-fraud chargebacks; it only includes card not present transactions. The ratio will be calculated monthly as follows:
Reported fraudulent transactions from TC40 data + Non-fraud disputes
Total settled transactions
Vamp Ratio Thresholds
New ratio thresholds are being established for merchants, and ratio thresholds will be established for acquirers as well. When the program launches on April 1st, an initial set of thresholds will go into effect and then on January 1, 2026, new stricter thresholds will apply.
Until October 1st, acquirers or merchants who exceed the VAMP thresholds will receive “advisory” notifications. No penalties will be levied during this six-month grace period. This is to provide time for acquirers and merchants to improve their performance by adjusting their controls and policies. Once the enforcement period begins, acquirers and merchants who exceed the thresholds will be subject to the following fees:
Once VAMP is in place, the first time a threshold is exceeded in a rolling 12-month period, Visa will grant a three-month grace period during which enforcement actions will not be applied. After this grace period, however, fees will be enforced for each dispute if thresholds are exceeded.
Enumerated Transaction Ratio
In addition to the VAMP ratio, Visa is introducing a ratio for enumerated transactions. These types of transactions are associated with card testing fraud. Enumerated transactions will be confirmed using Visa’s Account Attack Intelligence (VAAI) model.
The enumerated transaction ratio will be calculated monthly by dividing the number of confirmed enumerated transactions by the total settled transactions. Merchants with more than 300,000 enumerated transactions who exceed an enumeration ratio of 20% may face penalties.
Implications for Merchants
Merchants are advised to review their chargeback and fraud management policies and controls to prepare for the implementation of VAMP. They are also advised to confer with their processors as the introduction of thresholds for acquirers may cause them to impose new requirements on merchants so they can remain in compliance.
If you have additional questions, contact your processor who will be able to address questions related to VAMP and how it will impact your business.
For more information about Visa’s new Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program see this VAMP introduction from VISA.
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