Until now, we have not covered Mastercard’s (NYSE:MA) dispute and fraud monitoring programs. Before we do, let us quickly recap Visa’s (NYSE: V) Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP). As readers may recall from our October 10, 2025, newsletter, VAMP introduced significantly tighter rules around chargebacks and fraud especially for Card Not Present (CNP) transactions. The program changed how these incidents are calculated and increased the penalties for non-compliance. Industry attention has intensified as these stricter measures officially went live on April 1, 2026, with punitive consequences for some merchants and potentially acquirors.
Let us explain.
Visa VAMP (Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program) applies only to Card Not Present (CNP) transactions, such as e-commerce, online, phone, app, and mail-order purchases. It does not cover Card Present (CP) transactions like in-store swipe, chip, or contactless payments. The merchant “excessive” threshold under VAMP is set at 1.5% for the combined total of fraud reports and chargebacks, which is stricter than the previous 1.8%. VAMP replaces the former VFMP and VDMP with a single unified system that monitors a combined ratio of fraud and disputes. It also applies to both merchants and their acquirers (payment processors). Only merchants with significant volume, typically 1,500 or more combined fraud reports and disputes per month are formally monitored. Smaller merchants are exempt. VAMP was announced in 2024, launched in April 2025, and is now fully active with the tighter threshold in effect.
Mastercard’s Excessive Chargeback Program (ECP) is the equivalent to Visa’s VAMP.
Mastercard’s (ECP) applies to both e-commerce (Card Not Present) and in-store (Card Present) transactions. Mastercard calculates the chargeback ratio using total transactions and chargebacks across the entire merchant account (network-wide data), not just online sales. However, while ECP is broader in scope, it is more narrowly focused on chargeback (dispute only). Merchants are typically flagged if they exceed a 1% chargeback-to-transaction ratio over one or two months, along with a minimum number of chargebacks (often 100+).
What is the worst that can happen?
Actual penalties begin at 1.5% for both ECP and VAMP. MasterCard imposes escalating flat fines depending on volume of chargebacks and how many months in ECP program. If in month four or longer, ECP charges $5 per occurrence above the first three hundred every month. In addition, beginning in the second month ECP fines range from low thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars per month. VAMP charges $8 per incident. Ouch. We are guessing by using industry statistics as guidelines that 35% of V/MA transactions are CNP, if true, implies Visa processes 90 billion and MasterCard 65 billion ecommerce transactions a year.
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Mastercard also operates other related programs, including QMAP (Questionable Merchant Activity Program), which targets suspicious fraud patterns and potential money laundering, and BRAM (Brand Risk Assurance Management), which monitors high-risk merchant categories such as gambling, adult content, and CBD products. High chargeback activity on either Visa or Mastercard can lead to fines, increased scrutiny, or termination by the merchant account by the payment processor.
At a high level what is the difference between Visa and MasterCard?
Visa operates at a larger scale than Mastercard, handling about $14–15 trillion in payment volume and 257–260 billion transactions each year, compared with Mastercard’s $9–10 trillion and 170–180 billion transactions. That scale also translates into higher revenue: Visa generated about $40 billion in FY2025, while Mastercard brought in roughly $32–33 billion. Recently, both companies have posted low- to mid-double-digit revenue growth. Visa is also more profitable, with operating margins of about 65–67%, versus Mastercard’s 58–61%, though Mastercard has been steadily improving. Both companies are leaders in cross-border payments, with Mastercard recently showing slightly faster growth in that segment. Visa also leads in global reach, with 4.9 billion cards in circulation accepted at 175 million locations, compared with Mastercard’s 3.7 billion cards accepted by 130 million merchants.
