Visa’s VAMP sets stricter thresholds for fraud & disputes

Visa has introduced a new monitoring system, the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Programme (VAMP), designed to track fraud, disputes, and suspicious transactions among acquirers and merchants.

VAMP became effective on early October 2025, and brings significant changes to how transaction disputes and fraudulent activities are managed across the Visa network. Merchants whose disputed transactions exceed 2.2%-irrespective of whether these disputes are fraudulent or not-will now face a fee of USD $8 per dispute. This threshold is set to become even stricter from April 2026, falling to 1.5%.

The programme is not limited to monitoring chargebacks. It also takes aim at enumeration attacks, a form of criminal activity where stolen card details are tested using low-value transactions. Under VAMP, if more than 20% of a merchant's transactions are identified as enumeration attacks, the merchant will fall under the scope of the monitoring programme, regardless of transaction value.

For businesses processing large volumes of transactions, VAMP could result in substantial additional charges if dispute and enumeration attack levels are not managed. The programme also introduces expectations for remediation and brings possible reputational implications if fraud rates become apparent. Importantly, it highlights that even merchants who are compliant may face the risk of transactions being declined if issuers observe trends of risky behaviour within their activity or portfolio.

Industry response

Commenting on the new measures, Marija Solovjova, Head of FADO at Ecommpay, spoke on the firm's approach to the evolving requirements and the company's preparations in support of its merchants.

Visa's new VAMP program marks an important shift in fraud prevention. Merchants and acquirers must now play an active role in safeguarding transactional integrity at both merchant and portfolio levels. The program places greater responsibility on both acquirers and merchants to actively manage fraud and dispute ratios not only individually but across the entire portfolio.

Solovjova outlined the internal steps taken at Ecommpay to remain ahead of industry expectations, focusing on both broader compliance and technical enhancements.

At Ecommpay, we are committed to ensuring our merchants remain within compliance thresholds while continuously improving our fraud prevention ecosystem. From advanced analytics and adaptive thresholds to machine learning-driven insights, our goal remains the same: to stay one step ahead of fraudsters and protect every transaction.

She emphasised that staying within the new limits and investing in technological monitoring is now at the forefront of Ecommpay's operational strategy.

Now that the new rules are in effect, the Ecommpay focus is twofold: ensuring our merchants remain within compliance thresholds, and continuously enhancing our fraud prevention ecosystem, from smarter analytics and dynamic thresholds to advanced machine learning so that we can stay one step ahead of fraudsters.

Wider sector implications

The introduction of VAMP further increases the onus on merchants and acquirers to take proactive measures in addressing transaction risks. The structure of the programme, including its lowering of thresholds and specific watchdog focus on enumeration attacks, indicates a shift in how the payment card industry aims to mitigate both financial and reputational risks associated with payment fraud.

The tightening of thresholds and new penalty structure are expected to prompt businesses to revisit their existing fraud prevention resources and customer transaction policies to limit exposure to both enumeration attacks and chargebacks. The linked requirement for remediation, as stipulated in the programme, provides further incentives for rapid response by merchants whose ratios exceed set limits.

Industry observers note that as the payment landscape grows increasingly digitised and complex, proactive risk and fraud management are becoming integral to maintaining trust with both consumers and upstream partners, including issuers. Under VAMP, the relationship between acquirers and their merchants is under closer scrutiny, putting a premium on collaboration and transparent data practices.

As VAMP's stricter thresholds take full effect in 2026, the expectation is that both established payments businesses and new market entrants will need to continuously evolve their compliance and technical processes, while balancing operational costs and transaction security for customers.