VAMP (Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program) is Visa‘s unified initiative designed to combat online fraud and manage disputes. Consolidating the previous Visa Fraud Monitoring Program (VFMP) and Visa Dispute Monitoring Program (VDMP), VAMP implements a more rigorous set of requirements aimed at enhancing payment system security by closely monitoring high-risk card-not-present (CNP) transactions.
The continuously evolving payments landscape, combined with increasing complexity among ecosystem participants and advancements in technology, has contributed to the rise in fraud, disputes, and enumeration attacks. Enumeration, which is the large-scale, rapid brute-force testing of payment cards, alone accounts for approximately $1.1 billion in annual fraud losses. Concurrently, consumer disputes are on the rise: U.S. card issuers processed approximately $11 billion in disputed charges last year, up from $7.2 billion in 2019. For context, globally, online payment fraud is estimated at $45 billion.
VAMP is applicable to all merchants and acquirers processing CNP transactions, such as e-commerce retailers, subscription services, or online payment platforms that experience 1,500 or more chargebacks and fraud cases monthly. Merchants with fewer than 1,500 monthly fraud or chargeback instances are exempt. The program also integrates with Visa’s Account Attack Intelligence (VAAI) scoring, which introduces further assessment criteria beyond simple transaction counts.
Recent program updates have merged fraud and non-fraud chargebacks into a single calculation, potentially increasing reported chargeback rates. By April 1, 2026, merchants will be required to maintain fraud ratios below 1.5%, while acquirers must stay under 0.5% of transaction count. Non-compliance may result in escalating consequences, including increased monitoring and reporting obligations, financial penalties, restrictions on payment processing, and ultimately, loss of Visa acceptance privileges. An interim phase was implemented on October 1.
Acquirers participating in VAMP typically experience a 10% uplift in approved transactions compared to non-participating counterparts, a significant advantage in a high-volume environment. By incentivizing reductions in fraud and disputes, Visa not only facilitates an increase in approved sales for merchants but also helps lower operational costs associated with chargebacks and customer disputes.
