VAMP
Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program
VAMP (Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program) is a Visa program that tracks the share of disputed and fraudulent transactions among an acquirer's merchants and fines the bank if those rates exceed the permitted level.
What is VAMP (Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program)?
VAMP is a monitoring program through which Visa controls the quality of payment processing at acquirers. It combines Visa's earlier dispute and fraud programs, so it now counts both chargebacks and fraud reports. The program operates at the acquirer level, but its consequences quickly reach the merchant.
## How it works
For each merchant, the program calculates the ratio of disputed and fraudulent transactions to the total number of transactions over a period. If the ratio exceeds Visa's thresholds, the merchant is placed in a monitoring status and can later be classified as 'excessive'. The thresholds depend on region and business category, so current values should be taken from Visa's official rules, not from third-party tables.
## Where it applies
The program is especially important for high-risk categories: online casinos and sportsbooks (MCC 7995 and related codes), nutra with aggressive offers, dating with subscriptions, and fintech projects with fast onboarding. In these verticals, fraud reports and subscription disputes often grow faster than turnover, and the acquirer starts looking at the merchant more closely.
## What it affects
The acquirer receives fines from Visa and usually passes them on to the merchant under the contract. The acquirer may also impose a rolling reserve on payouts, tighten limits, require a change of processor, or close the account. As a result, one bad week with a spike in complaints can become expensive.
FAQ
Is VAMP a fine for the merchant?
The acquirer pays the fine directly, since Visa works with the bank. However, under the contract the acquirer usually passes the costs on to the merchant, so for the business the consequences are almost always financial.
How does VAMP differ from Visa's older dispute and fraud programs?
VAMP merges the earlier dispute and fraud programs into a single metric. Previously they were tracked separately; now the overall picture of the merchant's transactions is taken into account.
How can you reduce the risk of ending up in VAMP?
The most helpful steps are controlling the transaction descriptor, keeping subscription terms clear, refunding quickly before a customer goes to the bank, using 3DS authentication, and analyzing fraud scores. Monitor your metrics before the acquirer points them out.