Understanding Visa VAMP: Merchant Rules and How to Stay Compliant

June 9, 2025 by Irongate Payment Solutions

Visa’s Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP), effective April 1, 2025, brings together Visa’s Fraud Monitoring Program (VFMP) and Dispute Monitoring Program (VDMP) into one consolidated program. For merchants, this means more rigorous oversight and the need to understand and maintain compliance with specific ratio-based metrics.

Key VAMP Compliance Metrics for Merchants

1. VAMP Ratio

   • Formula: (Fraudulent transactions [TC40] + Non-fraud disputes [TC15]) ÷ Total settled CNP transactions

   • Initial threshold (April 2025): 1.5%

   • Final threshold (January 2026 onward): 0.9%

   • Minimum transaction count for enforcement: 1,000 card-not-present (CNP) transactions/month

2. Enumeration Ratio

   • Relevant for merchants with >300,000 CNP transactions/month

   • Threshold: 20% small-ticket/fraud-checking transactions

3. RDR Cases Now Count

   • Fraud-related Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR) cases are included in the VAMP ratio.

Merchant Responsibilities Under VAMP

To stay compliant, merchants must understand and manage their fraud and dispute activity proactively:

1. Track Monthly Metrics

• Use acquirer tools or third-party dashboards to monitor fraud rates, dispute trends, and enumeration patterns.

• Create internal alerts when thresholds approach 0.7% (as a precaution).

2. Implement Fraud Prevention Tools

• Use Address Verification Service (AVS) and CVV checks

• Apply device fingerprinting and geolocation-based transaction filters

• Use 3D Secure authentication to reduce liability for unauthorized fraud

3. Manage Customer Expectations

• Clearly communicate return policies, shipping times, and product descriptions

• Provide instant order confirmations and tracking info

• Use friendly billing descriptors to avoid unrecognized charges

4. Utilize Visa’s Dispute Management Solutions

• Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR): Instantly refund certain transaction types to avoid disputes

• Order Insight (OI): Share transaction details with issuers to prevent disputes from being filed

• Compelling Evidence 3.0 (CE 3.0): Provide robust transaction proof for friendly fraud cases

• CDRN Alerts: Resolve disputes directly with the cardholder before escalation

5. Avoid Enumeration Flags

• Limit acceptance of low-dollar transactions from new or unverified accounts

• Monitor for sudden spikes in small transaction attempts (especially with different BINs)

6. Educate Internal Teams

• Train customer service and fraud teams on dispute triggers and resolution protocols

• Create escalation policies for dispute volume spikes

VAMP Enforcement Timeline for Merchants

Period

Action

Threshold

Apr–Sept 2025

Advisory Only

1.5%

Oct–Dec 2025

Observational

1.5% (penalties begin)

Jan 2026+

Full Enforcement

0.9%

Penalties post-observational period can include:

• $10 fee per over-threshold transaction

• Potential restrictions or processing limitations from acquirers or Visa

Summary: Staying VAMP Compliant as a Merchant

Visa’s VAMP enforces higher standards for fraud and dispute management. Merchants must:

• Monitor their monthly VAMP and enumeration ratios

• Use the full suite of Visa tools (RDR, OI, CE 3.0)

• Implement proactive fraud prevention measures

• Educate and empower internal teams to respond quickly and accurately

By following these best practices, merchants can reduce penalties, maintain their ability to process card-not-present transactions, and protect their reputation within the payment ecosystem.