Visa Chargeback ThresholdHow to Know if You’re Visa Chargeback-Compliant

Visa Chargeback Thresholds Have Changed: Are You Compliant?

Did you know that Visa maintains its own predetermined monthly limit for the number of disputes it considers “acceptable?”

It’s all outlined in the Visa Dispute Management Guidelines. As of April 1, 2025, Visa consolidated its fraud and dispute monitoring programs into a single framework: the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP). This replaced the former Visa Dispute Monitoring Program (VDMP) and Visa Fraud Monitoring Program (VFMP).

VAMP isn’t just a new name for an old program. The new rules fundamentally change how your chargeback and fraud activity is measured, what Visa chargeback thresholds apply, and how violations get penalized.

Breaching the VAMP dispute limit can have serious consequences. Noncompliance may mean more fees and increased scrutiny from your acquirer. It could even threaten your ability to process Visa transactions.

Learn more about Visa chargeback rules & practices

Your Visa chargeback rate is an essential key performance indicator for other reasons, too. How closely you track this figure — and the actions you take in response — plays a vital role in your business strategy.

What are TC40s & TC15s?

TC40s are reports submitted by issuing banks when a cardholder reports a transaction as fraudulent. In contrast, TC15s are reports for non-fraud chargebacks; disputes filed for reasons like “item not received” or “not as described” complaints.

Both TC40s and TC15s are filed regardless of whether the transaction results in a chargeback. In other words, a transaction can generate a TC40 fraud report even if the issuer doesn't pursue a formal dispute. The only exception is if you use Compelling Evidence 3.0 (CE 3.0) to prove the transaction was legitimate (in the case of a TC40 only).

Visa used to track chargebacks and fraud separately. They were monitored under two different programs — the Visa Dispute Monitoring Program and Visa Fraud Monitoring Program. With the implementation of VAMP in 2025, though, Visa now uses a single figure that tracks both fraud reports (TC40) and non-fraud disputes (TC15).

This is important for two reasons. First, your fraud activity and your chargeback activity are now measured together. Second, if a fraudulent transaction generates both a TC40 fraud report and a TC15 chargeback,  that transaction can count against you twice.

What is the Current Visa Chargeback & Fraud Threshold?

Visa doesn’t just examine your chargeback-to-transaction ratio. Instead, it bases the allowable limit on your chargeback ratio and the total number of chargebacks and fraud reports you received during the period in question. You must breach both limits to be considered in violation.

The Visa chargeback thresholds are outlined in the table below:

Threshold	VAMP Ratio	Minimum Monthly Count
Merchant — Excessive	2.2%	1,500 TC40 and TC15 combined
Merchant — Excessive (Effective April 2026; CEMEA Excluded)	1.5%	1,500 TC40 and TC15 combined
Merchant — Excessive (Effective April 2026; CEMEA Only)	2.2%	1,500 TC40 and TC15 combined
Acquirer — Above Standard	0.5% to < 0.7%	1,500 TC40 and TC15 combined
Acquirer — Excessive	0.7% or higher	1,500 TC40 and TC15 combined

As a merchant, you’re subject to the merchant thresholds. But, your acquirer’s thresholds matter too. If your acquirer’s portfolio is at risk of breaching these limits, they may impose thresholds on individual merchants that are stricter than those required by Visa. For example, an acquirer might require merchants to stay below 1.0% to ensure their overall portfolio average remains under 0.5%.

You’ll also notice that there’s also no longer an “early warning” tier for excessive fraud or disputes; unlike under VDMP and VFMP, you’re now either compliant, or you’re not.

The Visa Enumeration Threshold

Under VAMP rules, Visa also monitors enumeration incidents. 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.

A merchant or acquirer’s enumeration ratio is calculated as:

Merchants with an enumeration ratio of 20% or higher — and a minimum of 300,000 enumerated transactions — may be flagged for enforcement.

How is Your Visa VAMP Ratio Calculated?

Your VAMP ratio is calculated using a straightforward formula:

VAMP Ratio = (TC40 Fraud Reports + TC15 Disputes) ÷ Total Settled Transactions

What Counts Toward Your Ratio

The following are included in your VAMP ratio calculation:

• TC40 fraud reports: CNP transactions flagged as fraudulent by issuing banks
• TC15 non-fraud disputes: CNP chargebacks filed under reason code categories 11 (Authorization), 12 (Processing Errors), and 13 (Consumer Disputes)
• Double-counted transactions: A single transaction that generates both a TC40 and TC15 will count twice

What DOESN’T Count Toward Your Ratio

Visa will only count chargebacks filed against card-not-present transactions against you; in-person, card-present transactions will not be counted. In addition, Visa also excludes certain resolved disputes from the VAMP ratio, provided the resolution occurs before Visa’s data extract:

• Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR): Non-fraud disputes resolved through Rapid Dispute Resolution
• Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network (CDRN): Disputes resolved through Verifi CDRN alerts
• Compelling Evidence 3.0: Fraud claims resolved via CE 3.0 qualification.

This is an important distinction. If you’re using pre-dispute resolution tools effectively, those prevented chargebacks won’t count against your VAMP ratio. This makes prevention tools more valuable than ever under the new framework.

Why Does Visa Have a Chargeback Threshold?

Why does Visa bother tracking the number of disputes and fraud reports filed against you? In simple terms, it’s to protect the integrity of their network.

Visa’s brand is tied to the activity that takes place on the Visa network. And, if a merchant gets hit with an excessive number of chargebacks, then that suggests the merchant is not fulfilling the obligations they agreed to take on before being granted permission to accept Visa credit and debit cards. 

So, Visa tracks the number of chargebacks and fraud tied to businesses in order to identify problematic merchants and take action to address the problem.

Consequences of Exceeding VAMP Thresholds

Exceeding the VAMP thresholds triggers enforcement actions and fees. Here's what to expect:

Enforcement Fees

• Merchants in the “Excessive” category: $8 fee per fraudulent or disputed transaction
• Acquirers in “Above Standard” category: $4 per fraudulent or disputed transaction for merchants with a VAMP ratio at or above 0.5%
• Acquirers in “Excessive” category: $8 fee per fraudulent or disputed transaction for all merchants with a VAMP ratio at or above 0.3%

Remember, these fees apply to each TC40 and TC15 transaction, meaning a single double-counted transaction could generate $16 in fees.

Acquirer Actions

Remember: VAMP is administered at the acquirer level. Even if Visa doesn't directly penalize you, your acquirer has strong incentives to manage their portfolio’s overall ratio. Acquirers may:

• Impose stricter ratio limits than Visa's thresholds
• Levy their own fines against merchants exceeding internal limits
• Increase reserve requirements
• Freeze or terminate merchant accounts

In extreme cases — particularly if a merchant consistently exceeds thresholds and fails to remediate — Visa may revoke the ability to process Visa transactions entirely. This is the worst-case scenario, but it’s a real possibility for merchants who ignore VAMP compliance.

What Does This Mean for Me?

The bottom line: breaching the VAMP thresholds could quickly inflate your costs and may destroy your business entirely if left unchecked.

Unfortunately, staying under Visa's published thresholds may not be enough. Remember that excessive chargebacks and fraud aren’t your problem alone; your acquirer has a vested interest in seeing that you remain in compliance, too.

Under VAMP, acquirers bear direct responsibility for their portfolio's performance. If your activity contributes to pushing their overall ratio above the acquirer thresholds, they face fees on every transaction from every merchant in their portfolio above 0.3%. This creates strong pressure for acquirers to proactively manage — in other words, terminate — merchants who pose a risk.

Acquirers understand that some chargebacks are unavoidable. That said, acquirers don’t want to do business with merchants who receive excessive chargebacks or generate high fraud rates. This means acquiring banks often set their own VAMP thresholds that are stricter than those imposed by Visa.

Have additional questions about protecting your business? The experts at Chargebacks911® are here to help.

Chargebacks911 offers the industry's only fully managed approach to chargebacks, deploying machine learning and human forensic expertise to help you stop chargebacks and protect your revenue. Contact us today and learn how much you stand to save.