Visa fraud monitoring programme changes: What VAMP means for UK and EEA merchants

Visa’s fraud and dispute monitoring is now stricter, and acquirers are managing their merchant portfolios accordingly. The Visa Acquiring Monitoring Programme (VAMP)—which replaced the legacy VFMP and VDMP frameworks—has been in full enforcement since October 2025. For merchants in specialist categories, that means your fraud and dispute levels directly affect your acquirer’s compliance position, and by extension, your processing relationship.

This article sets out what VAMP requires, how the thresholds work, and what UK and EEA merchants operating in specialist categories need to do to stay within them.

From VDMP and VFMP to VAMP: What changed and why it matters

The old

Until April 2025, Visa ran two separate monitoring programmes. The Visa Dispute Monitoring Programme (VDMP) tracked chargeback and dispute ratios. The Visa Fraud Monitoring Programme (VFMP) tracked reported fraud. Each had its own thresholds, and each assessed merchants independently. A merchant could stay within VDMP limits while accumulating a deteriorating fraud profile—and vice versa.

The new

VAMP consolidates VDMP and VFMP into a single framework with a single ratio:

(Fraud cases + disputed transactions) ÷ total transactions = VAMP ratio

The effect is significant. Merchants who previously managed fraud and disputes in isolation now need to manage their combined exposure. A business with moderate fraud levels and moderate dispute levels that would have passed each legacy programme separately may now breach the VAMP threshold when those figures are aggregated.

The thresholds acquirers must maintain are:

Tier	Effective date	Maximum VAMP ratio
Excessive	October 2025 (full enforcement)	0.7%
Above Standard	June 2025	≥0.5%

Both tiers are now active. Acquirers exceeding either threshold face scheme-level scrutiny, which directly affects their merchant portfolio decisions.

One scoping condition applies: VAMP monitoring only activates where a merchant generates a monthly minimum of 1,500 combined fraud disputes (unauthorised transactions – TC40 reports) and non-fraud disputes (complaints about service or fulfilment – TC15 reports) per month. Businesses below that volume are not currently in scope, though this does not insulate them from acquirer-level risk assessments.

What VAMP means for merchants in practice

VAMP shifts the compliance burden closer to merchants than the legacy programmes did. Under VDMP and VFMP, an acquirer could absorb a degree of merchant-level risk across a broad portfolio and still remain within scheme limits. 

The tighter thresholds and unified ratio make that harder. Acquirers now have less tolerance for merchants whose fraud or dispute levels contribute meaningfully to their aggregate VAMP ratio—and merchants in specialist categories, where dispute rates can run higher than the mainstream, should treat that as a direct operational concern.

The practical response requires action across three areas.

1. Fraud prevention

Your VAMP ratio includes TC40 reports (cases where a cardholder’s bank has flagged a transaction as fraudulent on their customer’s behalf), not just chargebacks that have already been confirmed and processed.

Low chargebacks do not guarantee a healthy VAMP ratio—if your bank fraud reports are rising, your ratio will too. Tools like 3D Secure authentication and real-time transaction screening reduce fraud before a dispute is ever raised.

Note that 3DS2 does not shift TC40 liability to the issuer (your customer’s bank), but when you authenticate a transaction successfully, you reduce the likelihood of the issuer filing a TC40 against it. Issuers are less likely to report fraud on a transaction they approved themselves. 

The result is the same: fewer fraud reports counting against your VAMP ratio.

2. Dispute resolution

The VAMP ratio calculation counts non-fraud disputes—not just chargebacks that have been escalated to arbitration, but disputes at an earlier stage. Resolving disputes before they become chargebacks therefore reduces ratio exposure directly. Visa’s Verifi Order Insight and Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network (CDRN) tools allow merchants to respond to disputes before they are filed as chargebacks. 

Non-fraud disputes (TC15) resolved through pre-dispute solutions—including Verifi, Ethoca, and Visa’s Rapid Dispute Resolution tool—are excluded from the VAMP ratio calculation. Resolving disputes at this stage is therefore a materially better outcome than letting them escalate to chargebacks. 

TC40 fraud reports count toward your ratio regardless—which is why preventing fraud in the first place matters more than resolving disputes after the fact.

3. Monitoring

A merchant cannot manage a VAMP ratio they cannot see in real time. Working with an acquirer or payment service provider (PSP) that surfaces fraud and dispute metrics at transaction level, rather than delivering monthly summaries after the damage is done, is the baseline requirement for staying within threshold.

VAMP enforcement only applies once a merchant reaches 1,500 combined fraud and non-fraud disputes per month, which means the programme formally targets merchants operating at scale. However, acquirers apply their own internal limits regardless of whether a merchant triggers scheme-level monitoring, so lower-volume merchants are not insulated from portfolio-level decisions if their ratios are deteriorating.

Turn compliance into opportunity 

The VAMP acquirer thresholds, 0.5% for Above Standard and 0.7% for Excessive, are now in full enforcement, and acquirers are managing their portfolios accordingly. For merchants in specialist categories where dispute rates are already under closer scrutiny, the margin for error is narrower than it was under the legacy programmes. Waiting for your acquirer to flag a problem is not a compliance strategy.

Merchants who monitor their combined fraud and dispute exposure in real time, resolve disputes before they escalate, and maintain an open relationship with their PSP are best placed to stay within threshold and avoid the portfolio-level decisions that acquirers make when merchants become a compliance liability. 

Fibonatix gives UK and EEA merchants in specialist categories exactly that: real-time fraud and dispute monitoring, 3D Secure authentication, streamlined dispute resolution tools, and a named account manager who understands the compliance environment your business operates in. The tools exist—the question is whether they are in place before the ratio deteriorates.

» Need to keep your dispute and fraud ratio within VAMP limits? Speak to a Fibonatix risk specialist about your merchant account

FAQs

What is the Visa Acquiring Monitoring Programme (VAMP)?

VAMP is Visa’s current framework for monitoring fraud and dispute levels across acquirer portfolios. It came into effect in April 2025, replacing the Visa Fraud Monitoring Programme (VFMP) and the Visa Dispute Monitoring Programme (VDMP) with a single unified programme. VAMP uses a combined ratio of reported fraud and non-fraud disputes relative to total transactions, and sets thresholds that acquirers must stay within to maintain scheme compliance.

How does VAMP differ from the previous Visa Dispute Monitoring Programme (VDMP)?

VDMP tracked chargeback and dispute ratios in isolation from fraud. VAMP combines both into a single ratio, meaning a merchant’s reported fraud transactions (TC40 reports filed by card issuers) and non-fraud disputes are assessed together. A merchant that would have remained within VDMP limits could now breach the VAMP threshold if their aggregate fraud and dispute exposure is high enough. The thresholds themselves are also stricter under VAMP than they were under the legacy programmes.

What are the current VAMP fraud and dispute thresholds for acquirers?

Acquirers are subject to two threshold tiers, both effective 1 June 2025. A VAMP ratio of 0.5% or above designates an acquirer as Above Standard; a ratio of 0.7% or above designates them as Excessive. Both tiers have been in full enforcement since 1 October 2025. Acquirers exceeding either threshold face scheme-level scrutiny and per-dispute fees across their merchant portfolio.

How is the VAMP ratio calculated?

The VAMP ratio is calculated as follows:

(Fraud cases + disputed transactions) ÷ total transactions = VAMP ratio

This differs from the legacy calculation methods because it aggregates fraud reports and disputes rather than assessing them separately. Both TC40-reported fraud and non-fraud disputes count toward the numerator, which means merchants need to manage both simultaneously rather than treating them as independent metrics.

Does VAMP apply to all merchants regardless of transaction volume?

Not directly. VAMP monitoring activates at the scheme level only where a merchant generates a monthly minimum of 1,500 combined fraud and non-fraud disputes. Merchants below that volume are not currently in scope for formal VAMP enforcement. However, acquirers apply their own internal risk thresholds independently of the scheme minimum, so lower-volume merchants are not insulated from acquirer-level portfolio decisions.

What happens to a merchant or acquirer that exceeds VAMP thresholds?

Acquirers that breach the Above Standard threshold (≥0.5%) face scheme-level scrutiny from Visa, which can include financial penalties and requirements to remediate their portfolio. For merchants, the direct consequence typically comes through the acquirer relationship: an acquirer whose VAMP ratio is at risk due to a merchant’s fraud or dispute levels may impose restrictions, increase reserve requirements, or terminate the processing relationship.

How do Visa’s fraud monitoring programme changes affect UK and EEA merchants specifically?

UK and EEA merchants process under acquirers regulated within those jurisdictions, and those acquirers are subject to VAMP thresholds. The practical effect is that UK and EEA acquirers are applying stricter portfolio-level risk management as a direct result of VAMP, which flows through to merchant-level decisions around onboarding, reserves, and processing continuity. 

Merchants in specialist categories—including CBD, online trading, adult goods, and dating services—where dispute rates can run higher than the mainstream, face closer scrutiny within this environment.

What tools can merchants use to reduce their VAMP ratio?

Three categories of tools directly affect the ratio. 3D Secure authentication and real-time transaction screening reduce fraud before a dispute is raised, limiting TC40 reports from your customer’s bank. Pre-dispute resolution tools—including Verifi, Ethoca, and Visa’s Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR)—allow you to resolve non-fraud disputes (TC15) before they become chargebacks; disputes resolved through these tools are excluded from the VAMP ratio. 

TC40 fraud reports are not excluded regardless of resolution method, making upstream fraud prevention the more effective lever overall. Real-time monitoring of your fraud and dispute metrics allows you to identify deterioration early and act before breaching acquirer or scheme thresholds.