Visa introduced Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program ("VAMP")
Complete guide to VAMP thresholds, timelines, and compliance requirements for merchants and acquirers
Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP)
Visa introduced Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program ("VAMP").
Each month, Visa monitors fraud and dispute levels and identifies payment gateways or merchants that exceed monthly VAMP thresholds. VAMP threshold is the VAMP ratio defined for merchants and acquirers differently. VAMP is a monthly evaluation program meaning merchants are evaluated following month.
Entities identified as exceeding program thresholds are fined and required to implement measures.
VAMP Ratio
Formula:
> VAMP Ratio = Count of [Fraud (TC40) + Disputes (TC15)] ÷ Count of Settled Transactions (TC05)
The codes seem to be confusing, so here is the simple formula of VAMP ratio:
> VAMP Ratio = (Count of Fraud Disputes + Fraud Alerts) + Disputes ÷ Count of Settled Transactions
Notes:
- Disputes are calculated based on the received month. Settled transactions are based on charged month.
- Merchant gets a fraudulent transaction in September but receives the dispute in October. That goes to the calculation of October. Total dispute number should be divided by transactions occurred in October.
- Fraud alerts will be counted even if they are refunded before turning into chargebacks.
What is VAMP threshold?
US, CA and EU
VAMP Ratio ≥220bps (2.2%) and ≥1,500 disputes per month. The rule is defined by and meaning if your ratio and number of disputes match the threshold at the same time, you are considered to be an excessive merchant threshold.
VAMP Thresholds:
- ≥ 220bps → 220bps is 2.2% meaning your VAMP ratio should be under 2.2%.
- ≥ 1,500 disputes → Number of disputes + fraud disputes + fraud alerts should be less than 1500 in a given month.
LAC
LAC region VAMP threshold is lower than US, CA and EU.
- VAMP Ratio: ≥150bps (1.5%)
- Monthly count of fraud and disputes: ≥1,500
CEMEA
CEMEA region has much lower absolute number of disputes which is 150 yet they have another metric which is the USD amount of the disputes.
- VAMP Ratio: ≥220bps (2.2%)
- Monthly count of fraud and disputes: ≥150 and amount ≥ USD 75,000
Timeline of Visa VAMP
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| October 1, 2025 | Enforcement begins for Excessive merchants and acquirers. |
| January 1, 2026 | Enforcement begins for Above Standard acquirers. |
| April 1, 2026 | Lowered thresholds for merchants flagged as Excessive. |
Visa VAMP Acquirer Threshold
Acquirer thresholds are different from merchant thresholds.
| Category | VAMP Ratio |
|---|---|
| Above Standard | 0.5% |
| Excessive | 0.7% |
Acquirer VAMP ratio is the average of all merchants working with that acquirer. So it is likely that acquirers like Stripe, Paypal and Braintree may require merchants to maintain a 0.5% VAMP ratio. Merchants aimed to keep their dispute ratio under 1% historically. Maintaining a 0.5% dispute ratio will be a challenge for the industry.