The Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) is how Visa now measures fraud and disputes on card-not-present payments. It replaced Visa’s separate fraud and dispute monitoring programmes in 2025, and from 1 April 2026 the threshold for merchants in Europe, the UK, the US, Canada and Asia Pacific dropped from 2.2% to 1.5%.
If you sell online in a high-risk industry, VAMP decides how your acquirer looks at you. This guide explains how the VAMP ratio is calculated, which thresholds apply, what happens if you cross them, and how to keep your ratio down.
Key takeaways
- VAMP combines fraud reports (TC40) and disputes (TC15) into one ratio, measured against your settled card-not-present transactions (TC05).
- A merchant is identified as Excessive at a VAMP ratio of 1.5% or more with at least 1,500 fraud reports and disputes in the month (Europe, UK, US, Canada and Asia Pacific, from 1 April 2026).
- Acquirers are measured too: Above Standard at 0.5% and Excessive at 0.7% across their whole portfolio. That is why acquirers can act on merchants who are well below the merchant threshold.
- Disputes resolved through pre-dispute tools, and fraud reports that qualify for Compelling Evidence 3.0, are left out of the ratio. A refund after a chargeback does not remove it.
- The practical levers are fewer fraud reports, fewer disputes, and resolving the ones you do get before they become chargebacks.
What is Visa VAMP?
VAMP is Visa’s global programme for monitoring fraud, disputes and enumeration (card testing) on card-not-present transactions. It replaced the Visa Fraud Monitoring Program (VFMP) and the Visa Dispute Monitoring Program (VDMP), which looked at fraud and disputes separately, each with its own count and ratio thresholds.
The new thresholds took effect on 1 June 2025. Visa ran an advisory period until 30 September 2025, during which no fees were charged, and enforcement started with the October 2025 evaluation. Visa monitors the ratios every month.
The biggest change is not the formula but who is held responsible. Under VAMP, Visa measures both individual merchants and the acquirer’s whole portfolio. An acquirer with too much fraud and too many disputes across all its merchants is identified even if no single merchant crosses the merchant threshold.
How the VAMP ratio is calculated
The VAMP ratio is a count, not an amount. A 10 EUR transaction and a 1,000 EUR transaction count the same.
| Code | What it is | Where it goes in the ratio |
|---|---|---|
| TC40 | A fraud report the card issuer sends to Visa when a cardholder says a transaction was fraudulent. It can be filed without a chargeback. | Numerator |
| TC15 | A dispute (chargeback) of any kind, fraud or non-fraud. | Numerator |
| TC05 | A settled transaction. | Denominator |
VAMP ratio = (TC40 fraud reports + TC15 disputes) ÷ TC05 settled transactions, counting card-not-present transactions only, domestic and cross-border.
Example 1: high ratio, low count
A merchant settles 20,000 card-not-present Visa transactions in a month and receives 180 fraud reports and 140 disputes. (180 + 140) ÷ 20,000 = 1.6%. That ratio is above 1.5%, but the merchant has 320 fraud reports and disputes, well below the 1,500 minimum, so it is not identified as an Excessive merchant on its own numbers. Those 320 still count towards the acquirer’s portfolio ratio, so the acquirer is likely to ask questions.
Example 2: identified as Excessive
A merchant settles 100,000 transactions and receives 1,000 fraud reports and 700 disputes. (1,000 + 700) ÷ 100,000 = 1.7%, with a combined count of 1,700. Both the ratio and the count are over the threshold, so from 1 April 2026 this merchant would be identified as Excessive.
What is left out of the ratio
- Disputes resolved through pre-dispute tools. If a dispute is resolved before it becomes a chargeback, for example through Visa’s Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR) or an alert service such as Verifi CDRN or Ethoca, it does not count as a TC15. Visa notes this depends on the timing of the data extract.
- Fraud reports that qualify for Compelling Evidence 3.0. If you can show, with the data Visa requires, that the same cardholder made earlier undisputed purchases with you, the TC40 can be excluded.
A refund issued after a chargeback has been filed does not remove it from the count. Neither does winning the chargeback in representment. And a TC40 fraud report counts even when the cardholder never files a chargeback.
VAMP thresholds in 2026
Merchant thresholds
| Region | Excessive merchant ratio | Minimum monthly count |
|---|---|---|
| Europe, US, Canada, Asia Pacific | 1.5% from 1 April 2026 (2.2% before) | 1,500 fraud reports and disputes |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 1.5% | 1,500 fraud reports and disputes |
| Central Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) | 2.2% | 150 fraud reports and disputes, and at least 75,000 USD |
Visa says Brazil, Chile and India will have their own programmes. Under Visa’s rules, the merchant thresholds apply when the merchant’s acquirer is not itself identified. If the acquirer is identified, it has to deal with its portfolio, including you.
Acquirer thresholds
| Level | Acquirer portfolio ratio | Minimum monthly count (Europe, US, Canada, Asia Pacific) |
|---|---|---|
| Above Standard | 0.5% or more | 1,500 |
| Excessive | 0.7% or more | 1,500 |
The gap matters. An acquirer’s whole portfolio has to stay under 0.5%, while a single merchant only becomes Excessive at 1.5%. An acquirer with a few merchants at 1% can be pushed over its own threshold, so it may act on merchants who are nowhere near 1.5%.
Enumeration
VAMP also measures card testing. Acquirers are expected to stop their merchants reaching an enumeration ratio of 20% (enumerated authorisations against all authorisations, approved and declined) or 300,000 enumerated transactions in a month. Unprotected checkouts are a common target, so bot protection and velocity limits on authorisation attempts matter here too.
What happens if you are identified
Visa charges enforcement fees for each fraud report and dispute counted while an acquirer or merchant is identified, and requires a remediation plan. The fee amounts are set in Visa’s rules and differ by level and region, so ask your acquirer what applies to your account. In practice, acquirers pass these fees on to the merchants who caused them.
Visa gives a grace period for a first identification after a clean 12 months, during which you have to fix the problem but no fees apply. If the ratio stays high after that, fees and remediation follow.
Your acquirer usually acts long before Visa does. Common steps are:
- Higher reserves. A larger or longer rolling reserve to cover future chargebacks.
- Volume caps. A monthly processing limit until the ratio comes down.
- Required controls. Mandatory 3D Secure, alert services or tighter fraud rules.
- Closing the account. If the ratio does not improve, the acquirer may terminate the account. In serious cases a terminated merchant can be added to the MATCH list, which makes it much harder to get a new account.
Why VAMP hits high-risk and subscription merchants harder
Adult, dating, gaming and nutraceutical merchants tend to see more fraud reports and disputes than an average online shop, so they start closer to the threshold. Subscription businesses have an extra problem: cardholders who forget a renewal often call it fraud, which can create both a TC40 and a TC15.
If you run a subscription business, these habits make the biggest difference:
- Send a reminder before every renewal, and before a free trial turns into a paid plan.
- Make cancelling as easy as signing up.
- Use a billing descriptor that customers recognise, ideally your brand name and a support contact.
- Stop retrying cards that keep declining, and update stored card details through account updater services where your processor offers them.
Our guide to recurring billing covers this in more detail.
How to keep your VAMP ratio down
Know your numbers
- Ask your processor for your monthly fraud report and dispute counts, not just your chargeback rate. Merchants don’t receive TC40 reports directly, so you may need to request this data.
- Track your own ratio weekly with the VAMP formula, so a spike shows up before the month closes.
Stop fraud before it settles
- Use 3D Secure on card-not-present payments, especially on first purchases and high-value orders.
- Screen orders with device, velocity and address checks, and block card-testing patterns at checkout.
Resolve disputes before they become chargebacks
- Use pre-dispute tools such as RDR and alert services, so disputes are resolved before they are counted as TC15s.
- Collect the order data Compelling Evidence 3.0 needs (device ID, IP address, delivery address, account login) so qualifying fraud reports can be excluded.
- Respond to customer complaints fast and refund before the customer goes to their bank.
Reduce friendly fraud
- Clear descriptors, clear terms and visible support contacts stop many disputes before they start.
- See our guides on preventing chargebacks and how chargebacks work.
Frequently asked questions
What is Visa VAMP?
VAMP (Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program) is Visa’s programme for monitoring fraud, disputes and card testing on card-not-present transactions. It replaced the separate Visa Fraud Monitoring Program and Visa Dispute Monitoring Program in 2025.
How is the VAMP ratio calculated?
Add the number of TC40 fraud reports and TC15 disputes in a month, then divide by the number of settled card-not-present transactions (TC05). It is a count, so transaction amounts don’t matter.
What is the VAMP threshold for merchants in 2026?
From 1 April 2026, a merchant in Europe, the US, Canada or Asia Pacific is identified as Excessive at a VAMP ratio of 1.5% or more, with at least 1,500 fraud reports and disputes in the month. Before April 2026 the ratio was 2.2%.
What are the VAMP thresholds for acquirers?
An acquirer’s portfolio is Above Standard at a VAMP ratio of 0.5% or more and Excessive at 0.7% or more, with at least 1,500 fraud reports and disputes in the month in most regions.
Does a refund remove a chargeback from the VAMP ratio?
No. Once a chargeback has been filed, it counts even if you refund or win it. Disputes resolved through pre-dispute tools such as RDR before they become chargebacks are left out.
Do TC40 fraud reports count if there is no chargeback?
Yes. A TC40 is counted when the issuer reports fraud, whether or not the cardholder files a chargeback. Fraud reports that qualify for Compelling Evidence 3.0 can be excluded.
Can I be affected by VAMP if my own ratio is low?
Yes. Visa also measures your acquirer’s whole portfolio. If the acquirer is over its threshold, it may raise reserves, cap volumes or close accounts across its higher-risk merchants, including ones below the merchant threshold.
Next step
VAMP makes your acquirer’s risk appetite as important as your own numbers. Fasto works with adult, subscription, nutraceutical, gaming, dating and hospitality merchants, and we look at your fraud and dispute history as part of onboarding. Approval typically takes two to three weeks.
Get a free quote and tell us about your business and your current ratios. Or read more about our high-risk merchant accounts.
