Important Developments for European Acquirers & Merchants: Major Updates Coming to the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP)
Visa maintains strict monitoring on the number of chargebacks an acquirer and their merchants are allowed to receive each month.
As a merchant, if your monthly chargeback ratio exceeds these limits, you could be forced into a chargeback monitoring program. This means incurring added fees, restrictions on your activities and, if the problem remains persistent, your bank may be forced to freeze or terminate your bank account entirely.
At least, that was the way it worked. However, with a newly announced overhaul to the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program ( or “VAMP”) set to take effect in 2025, we will see changes which will simplify and evolve this process. This program update will transform the way both merchants and acquirers interact with the Visa risk ecosystem.
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- Visa Chargeback Fees: 8 Tips to Help You Cut Dispute Costs
- Visa Resolve Online: The Guide to Manage Disputes With VROL
What is the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program?
- Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program
The Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) is a consolidated initiative that tracks acquirer activity related to fraud and chargebacks. It leverages a transaction count-based metric and the Visa Account Attack Intelligence (VAAI) Score system to offer better risk-based enforcement and improved fraud coverage.
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Before going into the details of the program updates, it will be helpful to have a working knowledge of the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program.
The VAMP is designed to help acquirers, their designated agents, and merchants maintain robust controls and oversight of risk. The ultimate aim is to protect the Visa brand from undesirable fraud and chargeback activity by deterring fraudulent and compromising business practices in the Visa ecosystem.
Each month, Visa will examine the performance of acquirers and their merchants. The card network will conduct a thorough review of non-fraud disputes filed on card-not-present transactions, as well as fraud incidents and enumeration performance. Visa will gauge performance conduct on the previous month's overall sales activity.
Visa aims to collaborate with acquirers to ensure the security of the payments environment. To this end, a Visa representative may reach out to discuss the program's performance, the remediation plan, and any relevant issues to assist acquirers. Additionally, Visa provides access to a performance tracking dashboard via OneERS, enabling clients to understand the key drivers of their performance.
What's Changing?
Beginning April 1, 2025, Visa will phase out its Visa Fraud Monitoring Program (VFMP) and Visa Dispute Monitoring Program (VDMP) for merchants operating in the Visa Europe region. The Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program will be enhanced to effectively replace these two programs.
Under current Visa rules, the program thresholds are as follows:
VDMP
| Program | Monthly Threshold |
| VDMP Early Warning | 0.65% chargeback ratio and 75 chargebacks |
| VDMP Standard | 0.9% chargeback ratio and 100 chargebacks |
| VDMP Excessive | 1.8% chargeback ratio and 1,000 chargebacks |
VFMP
| Program | Monthly Threshold |
| VFMP Early Warning | $50,000 and 0.65% of sales value |
| VFMP Standard | $75,000 and 0.9% of sales value |
| VFMP Excessive | $250,000 and 1.8% of sales value |
VAMP
| Program Level | Program Threshold |
| VAMP Card-Absent Dispute Threshold | 750 disputes and 1% dispute ratio |
| VAMP Card-Absent Fraud Threshold | $500,000 in card-absent fraud and 1% fraud-to-sales ratio |
The revised VAMP program will feature a new transaction count-based metric based which measures reported fraud and non-fraud chargebacks together. This will be accompanied by new criteria based on confirmed enumerated transactions, identified and confirmed by the Visa Account Attack Intelligence (VAAI) Score system, rather than Risk Operations Center (ROC)-blocked transactions.
Additionally, VAMP will transition from non-compliance assessment-based enforcement to risk-based enforcement. This will provide greater flexibility for clients and accommodating varying levels of risk appetite.
As per Visa, enumeration is “the criminal practice of submitting fraudulent card not present transactions into the payments ecosystem in order to obtain valid payment information.” An enumeration attack is closely related to card testing; a scammer will systematically submit transactions with partial cardholder information to try and identify valid data attributes. In the context of VAMP, we’re referring here to transactions submitted by merchants that are, themselves, engaged in an enumeration attack.
Revised VAMP Program Thresholds & Enforcement Levels
An acquirer is identified as being in the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program if they meet or exceed either the new fraud and disputes ratio, or the new enumeration ratio. These are calculated as follows:
In the table below, we’ve outlined the current program thresholds, as well as the new thresholds set to take effect in January 2025:
| Details | Acquirer | Merchant | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above Standard | Excessive | Excessive | Excessive | |
| VAMP Ratio | VAMP Ratio | VAMP Ratio | Enumeration Ratio | |
| Threshold Effective Date: April 1st, 2025 | N/A | greater than 0.5% | greater than 1.5% | greater than 20% |
| Threshold Effective Date: January 1st, 2026 | greater than 0.3%, but less than 0.5% | greater than 0.5% | greater than 0.9% | greater than 20% |
| Additional Criteria |
|
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Acquirers who surpass the identification thresholds are flagged for the VAMP and are required to take corrective actions. VAMP identifies two levels of performance issues:
“Above Standard” Level
“Excessive” Level
Identified acquirers will receive notification of their status from Visa and are expected to make a response. This notification will explain:
- The reason for the identification
- Response timeline
- Consequences for noncompliance
- Best practices (when applicable)
In response, acquirers must enhance their risk control environment and address the issues that led to their identification. They are required to submit a remediation plan within 15 calendar days that addresses the root causes of the performance issues.
What Do Merchants & Acquirers Need to Do?
In short: make sure you’re using all the tools at your disposal.
The Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program is built to encourage merchants to take advantage of Visa and Verifi’s dispute management services. Any dispute resolved through Verifi CDRN or Visa Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR) will be exempt from impacting Visa monitoring ratios. This covers Order Insight and Compelling Evidence 3.0, as well as resolved TC40 notices via CDRN or RDR.
These changes only impact merchants and acquirers operating in the Europe region. As of this writing, these changes are not scheduled to take effect for other markets, like the US.
What Do These Changes Mean For Merchants?
At present, all chargebacks count against your chargeback ratio. Even if you refund a dispute to prevent a chargeback, it can still adversely affect your fraud-to-sales ratio and/or dispute-to-sales ratio. Plus, like we mentioned above, you will face higher processing fees and penalties if either of those indicators surpass a specific limit.
VAMP will offer European merchants a way to avoid the restrictions associated with VDMP and VFMP, provided disputes are resolved through designated Visa and Verifi channels. It will also lead to enhanced fraud coverage across the ecosystem.
What do these changes mean for Acquirers?
The VAMP program aims to assist acquirers in managing the levels of risk, fraud, and disputes in their portfolio.
These changes give acquirers more flexibility to manage their overall portfolio. It also enhances their ability to manage and maintain effective oversight of individual merchants.
In Conclusion...
After April 1, 2025, tools like CDRN, RDR, and Order Insight with CE3.0 will be more crucial than ever in helping Visa Europe merchants minimize dispute exposure. Moreover, resolving disputes through these platforms will not invite penalties.
Merchants can also expect additional benefits like increased authorization rates and lower reserve requirements owing to reduced dispute ratios.
The changes to the VAMP represent a significant evolution in compliance activity associated with dispute management. Our European clients can look forward to the same protective measures offered by our integrated tools of CDRN, RDR, and Order Insight, but now with additional flexibility in managing their processing ratios courtesy of VAMP.
Not currently using tools like CDRN or RDR? You’re leaving money on the table. Talk to one of our experts today to get started and see your fraud and chargeback liability shrink by as much as 90% overnight.
FAQs
What is an acquirer chargeback monitoring program?
The Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program is a system implemented by Visa to track and manage the frequency and volume of chargebacks incurred by merchants and acquirers. It aims to identify high-risk merchants and reduce fraudulent activities by setting thresholds and corrective measures.
What is the Visa RDR program?
The Visa Risk Dispute Resolution (RDR) program is an initiative designed to streamline the dispute resolution process for chargebacks. It aims to reduce chargeback rates by implementing a clear framework for identifying and addressing fraudulent or erroneous transactions.
What is the threshold for Visa chargebacks?
The threshold for Visa chargebacks is typically set at 0.9% of the total number of transactions processed and 100 chargebacks in a calendar month. Exceeding this threshold may result in the merchant entering a chargeback monitoring program where additional scrutiny and corrective actions will be enforced.
