How To Navigate High-Risk Merchant Compliance with Visa’s New VAMP Rules
Starting April 2025, Visa’s new Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP), part of its fraud monitoring efforts, will crack down on merchants faster with tougher compliance rules. High-risk businesses, especially those with high dispute volumes, are in the crosshairs. Are you ready for Visa’s strictest compliance push in years?
Whether it’s CBD, web hosting, adult sites, or another industry, VAMP could jeopardize your merchant account. But here’s the good news: high-risk merchant compliance doesn’t have to be a nightmare when you have the right partner by your side, especially in managing fraud rates.
At AllayPay, we’ve been preparing our high-risk merchants for these changes since Visa first announced them. We know exactly what you need to do to stay compliant, keep your accounts safe, and avoid penalties related to fraud chargebacks, fraud losses, and the crushing fines that are coming, especially with compelling evidence of compliance transaction data included in the VAMP Ratio.
VAMP’s Effect on Rapid Dispute Resolution for Merchants
Let’s cut through the technical jargon and monitoring programs to talk about what matters to your bottom line.
Visa created VAMP to crack down on fraud and chargebacks across their entire network. But instead of going after the big banks or major retailers, they’re targeting the businesses that are easiest to blame: high-risk merchants like you who face stricter thresholds.
Here’s what you need to know: VAMP combines five different Visa fraud monitoring programs into one super strict system that watches every submitted transaction you process. If you cross their new thresholds, you don’t get a warning. You get penalized immediately under stricter requirements aimed at fraud prevention.
Why High-Risk Merchants Need to Pay Attention
Visa’s VAMP update isn’t just about fraud prevention and managing chargebacks. It’s also about tightening control over industries with typically higher chargeback and fraud rates, as well as significant losses and non-fraud disputes.
This means that if you’re in a high-risk industry (bail bonds, tobacco, furniture stores, etc.), you’ll automatically have less wiggle room under the new enumeration attacks and VAMP calculations to keep your chargebacks within acceptable limits.
Failing to meet VAMP standards (for example, if your dispute count exceeds an “excessive threshold” set by the new regulations) could mean any of the following for your business:
- Being labeled as an excessive fraud merchant
- Getting dropped by your payment processor
- Incurring large fines
- Losing the ability to accept Visa cards altogether
In other words, non-compliance with the new VAMP framework is not an option.
Fraud-Related Numbers That Could Shut Down Your Business
The Visa chargeback thresholds under VAMP are much stricter than before. Here are Visa’s dispute monitoring program ratios to stay under:
- April 1 – December 31, 2025: Dispute ratio must stay below 1.5%
- Starting January 1, 2026: Dispute ratio must stay below 0.9%
What does this mean in real terms? If you process $100,000 per month in Visa transactions, you can only have 150 chargebacks per month initially, not exceeding the excessive threshold, dropping to just 90 chargebacks per month in 2026.
For most high-risk businesses, understanding the VAMP ratio and multiple VAMP ratio limits is a massive challenge. We regularly see CBD merchants, supplement companies, and subscription services running 2-3% fraud ratios and encountering fraud-related chargebacks and high-risk merchant compliance due to high transaction volumes during busy seasons.
New Enumeration Ratio
But there’s more. Visa also added something called an “enumeration ratio” that tracks how many small test transactions hit your site.
If card thieves are using your business to test stolen cards (even if you are refunding those transactions), you could still get flagged, even if your total chargebacks are low.
No More Early Warnings
Under the old system, processors understood this and gave high-risk merchants some wiggle room. Under VAMP, that wiggle room is gone due to:
- Customers sometimes don’t recognize your business name on their statements.
- Your products are often impulse purchases that buyers later regret.
- Fraudsters specifically target high-risk businesses to test stolen cards.
- Banks are more likely to side with cardholders in disputes involving “questionable” industries.
Simplified Calculation Method
Visa has also simplified how it calculates your dispute ratio:
Dispute Ratio = Number of Visa Disputes ÷ Number of Settled Visa Transactions
This simplified new VAMP ratio makes it easier for acquirers to monitor and flag risky merchants quickly.
Card Issuer Roles and Responsibilities in VAMP
The updated rules aren’t just for merchants and processors. Card issuers, including the banks and financial institutions that issue Visa cards, also play a major role in monitoring fraud, including the disputed count resolved through the cardholder dispute resolution network.
As a merchant, it’s important to understand how these banks operate within the VAMP framework and how their behavior affects your compliance status.
1. Monitoring Cardholder Behavior
Card issuers track how their customers use their cards, including transaction risk analysis for preventing disputes related to card-not-present (CNP) transactions:
- Patterns of frequent disputes
- Unusual transaction locations
- Spending spikes on specific merchant categories
If the issuer detects any unusual activity on a card used at your business, or a customer decides to contact Visa (or their bank) and reports a transaction as fraud, this triggers a chain reaction that can ultimately impact your business’s status regarding non-fraud disputes.
2. Contributing to Enumeration Data
Issuers help Visa track enumeration attacks by identifying when their cardholders’ details are being tested through small or repeated transactions. If your site gets hit with one of these attacks, issuers will report the pattern back to Visa, and you could be flagged, even if you refund the charges.
3. Reporting Data to Visa
Card issuers submit dispute data to Visa, as well as data about enumeration events and fraud in general. This data feeds into Visa’s monitoring systems, which means your VAMP status depends partially on how issuers interpret and report problems.
Even if you don’t feel that a dispute is fraud-related, if the issuing bank codes it as criminal fraud and incurs additional fees, your compliance standing could still take a hit.
What Happens When You Don’t Stay Compliant
The consequences of failing VAMP compliance are severe and immediate, including potential enforcement fees, and to avoid penalties, it’s crucial to stay informed and proactive.
- Financial penalties: Fines start at $10 per chargeback and can escalate quickly. For a business with 200 monthly chargebacks, that’s $2,000 in fines per month on top of your regular processing costs.
- Account termination: Your processor can shut down your merchant account with little notice. Finding a new processor after being terminated for VAMP violations is extremely difficult and expensive.
- Industry denylist: Get flagged by Visa, and other card networks will likely follow. You could lose the ability to accept credit cards entirely.
We’ve already seen this happen to merchants who thought they were safe. One CBD client came to us after losing three merchant accounts in six months due to stolen card details being tested on their site. Their chargeback rate hit 2.1% during a promotional campaign, and processors dropped them immediately, triggering the cardholder dispute resolution network’s involvement.
How AllayPay Keeps High-Risk Merchants Compliant
This is where partnering with us makes all the difference, especially in presenting compelling evidence to understand the VAMP calculations. We don’t wait for problems to happen; we are proactive and focus on preventing disputes.
1. Real-Time Chargeback Monitoring
We offer tools that help you track your chargeback ratios daily, not just monthly, so you can catch issues early and take action before triggering alerts from Visa or Mastercard. These systems give you real-time visibility and send proactive alerts, allowing you to reduce disputes, stay compliant, and protect your account from shutdown. Whether you’re in CBD, adult, travel, or regular ecommerce company, we work closely with you to maintain healthy processing ratios and safeguard your revenue and reputation before problems escalate.
2. Pre-Dispute Resolution Tools
We use Visa’s tools like Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR) and Verifi’s Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network (CDRN) to resolve disputes before they become official chargebacks. When a customer contacts their bank about a transaction, we can often refund them immediately through pre-dispute systems.
Those refunds don’t count toward your total settled transactions and VAMP thresholds, so you stay compliant while keeping customers happy.
3. Industry-Specific Fraud Prevention
Generic fraud tools don’t work for high-risk businesses. We use specialized systems designed for your industry that include:
- 3D Secure 2.0
- AVS and CVV checks
- Velocity limits (to stop multiple rapid purchases)
- Denylist databases for known bad actors
Tools to prevent fraud are especially crucial for high-risk industries, where fraud is more common.
4. Simplify Your Billing and Refund Policies
Make your terms easy to read, post them clearly on your website, and honor refund requests quickly to reduce customer disputes by implementing a clear authentication method. Most payment disputes happen because customers feel misled or can’t reach support.
A clear policy can stop a complaint from turning into a chargeback.
5. Processor Relationships That Matter
Here’s something most banks won’t tell you: not all processors are equal when it comes to VAMP compliance and understanding high-risk business models. We only work with processors who have specific experience with visa dispute monitoring for high-risk industries.
The partnership you have with your payment processor can make or break your ability to stay compliant.
Building a VAMP-Proof Merchant Strategy: Your VAMP Compliance Action Plan
Don’t wait; start prioritizing the changes in your visa payment process. Here’s what you need to do right now:
1. Automate What You Can
Use automation for monitoring CNP transactions (online and keyed-in payments), as well as other related tasks to keep track of disputes resolved through various monitoring programs:
- 3D secure authentication for online transactions and address verification for all transactions
- Dispute resolution set up for you within 48 hours
- Easy refund processes that customers can find
- Chargeback notifications
Automation helps compliance by detecting issues automatically, especially with rapid dispute resolution, when tracking transaction amounts and reducing the likelihood of human error.
2. Invest in Customer Service
Many chargebacks happen because customers can’t reach you for refunds. Make sure you have:
- Clear contact information on every receipt and statement
- Fast response times for customer inquiries
- Easy refund processes that customers can find
- Billing descriptors that customers recognize
This way, you can prevent many chargebacks before they happen. Generally, customers only dispute charges when they feel frustrated or ignored.
3. Regularly Review Visa Guidelines
Pro tip: Your processor should do this for you. If they don’t, it’s time to switch to one that does.
Timeline for VAMP Changes
Here’s a breakdown of when everything kicks in:
- April 1, 2025: VAMP rules went live
- April – June 2025: Advisory period (no fines, but you’ll be flagged)
- July 1, 2025: Penalties begin for exceeding thresholds
- January 1, 2026: Stricter dispute ratio limit of 0.9% begins
Why AllayPay is Different for High-Risk VAMP Compliance
Most ISO agents will try to sell you a merchant account and disappear. AllayPay sticks around because we know that’s when the real work begins.
We specialize in high-risk industries, so we understand your unique challenges.
We offer ongoing support since VAMP compliance isn’t a one-time setup. It requires constant monitoring and adjustment to keep up with technological advancements. We have backup solutions if something goes wrong and have relationships with multiple processors who can keep you running.
Get Your VAMP Compliance Review Today
Smart merchants are preparing now to adapt to the changes in Visa payments.
Let us assess how many non-fraud disputes resolved will impact your overall compliance and the risks of non-compliance:
- Analyze your current chargeback rates and risk factors.
- Identify your biggest VAMP compliance vulnerabilities.
- Show you exactly what tools you need to stay compliant.
- Provide a custom compliance plan for your specific industry.
- Quote you on processors who understand VAMP requirements for high-risk businesses.
Don’t let Visa’s new rules shut down your business. Join hundreds of high-risk merchants who trust AllayPay to keep them compliant, profitable, and protected.
The clock is ticking. VAMP is here whether you’re ready or not. But with us on your side, you can turn these new rules from a threat into a competitive advantage.
Contact us now for a VAMP compliance review. Your merchant account depends on it.
